Leon Draisaitl Plays Hero As Stuart Skinner Steals the Show

The one big “IF” entering the series was if Skinner could match Bobrovsky, the discrepancy in goaltending was not going to be as big as many people thought it would be. And in Game 1, Skinner was equal to the task, especially in Period 2. After Sam Bennett scored his second of the game to make it 3-1 Panthers, Viktor Arvidsson made it 3-2 one minute and 17 seconds later.

However, the Florida Panthers put 17 shots on Skinner in the second period. He stopped 16 of them in that period. Florida was pressing, looking to regain a two-goal lead. Skinner stopped Aleksander Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe, Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart, and Bennett on a faceoff win in the Oilers defensive zone.

This allowed Mattias Ekholm to tie the game at 3-3 seven minutes into the third period on a beautiful pass from Connor McDavid. However, that is when Sergei Bobrovsky showed what he could do as he matched the play of Stuart Skinner from Period 2. In the first period, Bobrovsky was excellent as the Panthers relied on him more when they were shorthanded. He is the straw that stirs the drink when Florida is on the penalty kill.

And the first period saw a lot of penalties late in the period. However, Bobrovsky was even better in the third period. The Oilers threw 14 shots at the Florida goaltender in the third period. That was the same number of shots the Oilers had in the first period as well. However, with the game tied at 3-3, Bobrovsky stopped McDavid multiple times, as well as Leon Draisaitl, John Klingberg, Jake Walman, and Evander Kane.

Florida Panthers: Florida Panthers Continue To Play with a Championship Mindset

Edmonton Oilers: Edmonton Oilers Captain Connor McDavid is All Business

Some of those saves came late in the third period as time was winding down. Then, in the overtime period, after surviving the Panthers push, Edmonton took to the attack, and Sergei Bobrovsky was excellent once again. He stopped Trent Frederic on the side of the net. Not to mention his acrobatics on the missed chance by Kasperi Kapanen. Then he stopped Evan Bouchard late in the first overtime session.

However, Skinner had to be good early. The Panthers, after sitting back in the third period, launched an attack to begin the overtime session. Right away, a stop on Reinhart followed by a save on Rodrigues through a screen by Barkov in overtime.

He made several key stops early in the overtime session as he battled through screens and turnovers by his team to begin the extra session. Skinner made it his mission after giving up four straight goals in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars to battle for position to see the puck better to give his team a chance to win.

It was an entertaining first game of the Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton. The atmosphere was electric to start as the Oilers had home ice advantage this time around. And the crowd got into the game early as Leon Draisaitl made it 1-0 early for the Oilers. However, that lead was short-lived, as the tying goal was marred by controversy.

Sam Bennett tied the game after being knocked into Stuart Skinner. After an unsuccessful challenge, the Panthers made it 2-1 on the power play on a goal by Brad Marchand. Then Bennett opened the scoring to begin the third period to make it 3-1, and you thought it was over. The Panthers were 31-0 in the playoffs when holding a lead after the first or second period in the Stanley Cup Playoffs under head coach Paul Maurice.

However, that record is now 31-1 after the loss to the Edmonton Oilers. It was the seventh come-from-behind victory of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Edmonton had already secured six come-from-behind wins in the playoffs—all in a row, which was an NHL record. The Oilers trailed 3-1 early in the second period, but scored the following three goals.

As previously mentioned, Arvidsson scored a minute and 17 seconds after Bennett’s goal in the second period. Then Ekholm tied the game at 3-3 about seven minutes into the third period, putting the Panthers record in jeopardy. While both teams went back and forth looking for the game-winning goal, the goalies stepped up, especially Bobrovsky, as the Oilers took advantage of the Panthers sitting back on the lead.

However, a puck over the glass penalty by Tomas Nosek sealed the fate for the Florida Panthers. Florida’s aggressive penalty kill cost them as McDavid used his speed to enter the zone to allow the Oilers to set up and find his buddy Draisaitl for the game-winning goal and his second of the night.

The place was buzzing to begin the night and once again to end the night as Leon Draisaitl sends the fans home happy and gives his team a 1-0 series lead.

Game 2 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final is Friday night.