Oilers’ Corey Perry: From Healthy Scratch to History Maker

Throughout the 2025 NHL postseason, the hockey world has marveled at the play of Edmonton Oilers veteran Corey Perry, who seems to have discovered the Fountain of Youth at some point over the last 12 months.

But the remarkable late-career resurgence of the 40-year-old forward was never more appreciable than on Friday night, during Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Oilers and Florida Panthers at Rogers Place.

With Edmonton trailing 4-3 in the dying seconds, Perry beat Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen to a loose puck in front of the Panthers’ net and fired a shot past goalie Sergei Bobrovsky at 19:42 of the third period, knotting the score at 4-4 and sending the arena into a frenzy.

Perry’s tally was the latest tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history, smashing the previous record (set in 1951 by Tod Sloan of the Toronto Maple Leafs) by 14 seconds. In the process, Perry became just the fifth player aged 40-plus to score in the Stanley Cup Final, joining a club of all-time greats (Ray Bourque, Zdeno Chara, Igor Larionov and Mark Recchi).

Edmonton ultimately lost the game 5-4, with Florida’s Brad Marchand scoring in double overtime to even up the best-of-seven championship series at one win apiece. But while Oilers fans won’t recall the result of Game 2 with any fondness, they’ll probably still be talking years from now about the heroics of Perry.

One of the Postseason’s Top Scorers

With eight goals in 18 games this postseason, Perry currently ranks second on the Oilers, trailing only Leon Draisaitl (10 goals) and is tied for fourth among all players in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Perry’s output is remarkable for a 40-year-old, especially considering that he only managed to score once in 19 games during the entire 2024 playoffs.

It’s that contrast between this year and last that made Perry’s record-setting goal in Game 2 so poetically symbolic. Exactly 12 months ago, Perry didn’t even suit up for Game 2 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final between Edmonton and Florida, one of six games he missed as a healthy scratch in last year’s playoffs when he appeared to be on his last legs.

Regular Season Carries Over into Playoffs

The resurrection of Perry is a year-long story that saw him score 19 goals during the regular season, fifth-most on the Oilers and tied for his biggest single-season total since 2015-16, when he was age 30. He now has 27 goals in the 2024-25 regular season and 2025 postseason combined, tied for the 13^th most ever in a single regular season/postseason by a player at age 39 or older.