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Florida Panthers one win away from Stanley Cup after beating Edmonton Oilers in Game 5

Trevor Beggs
Trevor Beggs
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Jun 15 2025, 2:49 am
Florida Panthers one win away from Stanley Cup after beating Edmonton Oilers in Game 5
Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

The Edmonton Oilers have been here before.

For the second year in a row, the Oilers are on the brink of elimination in the Stanley Cup Final, after losing Game 5 to the Florida Panthers 5-2.

Brad Marchand, who’s tormented the Oilers in this series, was the hero for Florida in this one. He kicked off his heroics by scoring the opening goal of the game with a glorious individual effort.

Marchand then outdid himself later in the contest with another Herculean effort. He deked around Oilers defender Jake Walman to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead early in the third period, effectively putting a dagger in the hearts of Oilers fans. That goal would stand as the game-winner.

After the victory, cameras caught all of the Panthers’ players giving Marchand a round of applause as he entered the locker room.

When asked about his performance by Sportsnet’s Gene Principe after the game, Marchand took the high road.

“I’m just excited to be a part of this group. It’s a pretty special group to be a part of, and I’m having a lot of fun.”

Sam Bennett also continued to make his case for the Conn Smythe. The playoff’s leading goal scorer forced a turnover in the neutral zone late in the first period. He followed the play and wound up burying his 15th goal of the playoffs.

Sam Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen scored the other goals for Florida, while Connor McDavid and Corey Perry registered Edmonton’s tallies.

“We’ve come out flat for, well, most of the series,” Mattias Ekholm told reporters postgame. “That’s something that’s a mindset. I think we’ve just got to make sure we get pucks in and put pressure on them. They’re obviously a good team for a reason and they’ve come out and showed that early in games. We’ve got to be better in the start.”

So far in this series, Florida has outscored the Oilers 11-4 in the first period.

The Panthers took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, after outshooting the Oilers 8-3. They also registered five high danger chances in the opening frame, compared to just one for the Oilers.

That lone high danger chance did nearly sneak in for Edmonton, as McDavid hit the post and caused Sergei Bobrovsky to scramble around in the crease.

Calvin Pickard, who entered the game with a perfect 7-0 record this postseason, allowed four goals on 18 shots.

With the victory, the Panthers improved to 10-3 on the road. That ties them with six other teams for the most road wins in Stanley Cup playoffs history.

The series now heads back to Florida, where the Panthers have a more mortal 5-4 record this postseason. The Oilers are 7-4 on the road thus far.

So, can the Oilers keep their Stanley Cup dreams alive and once again force a Game 7?

“We have confidence in ourselves that we can get the job done,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins told reporters postgame. “That’s a lot easier said than done, we’ve got to go do it, and we look forward to that.”

Edmonton is 2-1 all-time in Game 6’s of the Stanley Cup Final. They forced Game 7 last year against the Panthers, and in 2006 against the Carolina Hurricanes. They did lose in Game 6 against the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1987 Finals, before eventually hoisting the Cup in Game 7.

The Oilers have a 21-9 record all-time in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. They also have a 10-1 record in Game 6’s dating back to 2006.

Perhaps that’ll give Oilers fans some hope, along with the fact that the circumstances aren’t as dire as last year, when the Oilers went down 3-0 to the Panthers before clawing their way back in the series.

However, there’s no more room for error. The Oilers will try to once again force a Game 7 as they take on the Panthers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Tuesday, June 17th at 6:00pm MST.

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