Oilers hope recent history is on their side in rematch with Panthers
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With their Game 5 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night, the Edmonton Oilers clinched their spot in the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year and set up a rematch with the Florida Panthers.
In last year’s Final matchup, the Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 series lead before the Oilers clawed back to force a Game 7 in Sunrise. Florida got the last laugh, edging Edmonton 2-1 to capture their first championship in franchise history.
Now the two teams are back, and the Oilers hope recent history is on their side as they have a shot at revenge.
This is the fifth time since 1967-68 that the Stanley Cup Final is a rematch from the previous season. In 2008, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games for the Stanley Cup. They met again in 2009, but Pittsburgh prevailed in seven games for the first title in the Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin era.
The Oilers were a part of a Cup Final rematch in 1983 and 1984 with the New York Islanders. In 1983, the Islanders beat the Oilers in four games as they earned their fourth straight Stanley Cup championship as part of their dynasty to begin the 1980s. But Edmonton would end New York’s streak in 1984, winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in five games.
The Montreal Canadiens first achieved going back-to-back in the expansion era, beating the St. Louis Blues via sweep in the 1968 and 1969 Stanley Cup Finals. They pulled it off again nearly a decade later, beating the Boston Bruins back-to-back in 1977 and 1978.
Connor McDavid’s record-breaking run in last year’s playoffs earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP despite being on the losing side. In 25 playoff games, he scored eight goals with 42 points.
McDavid (26 points) and Draisaitl (25) have continued to dominate this season, but the likes of Evan Bouchard (17 points) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (18 points) have elevated their games in the playoffs for a second straight year. The Oilers have also gotten important goals from their depth players. Corey Perry has seven goals and Connor Brown has chipped in with five through this year’s run.
Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner began the playoffs with three straight losses, paving the way for Calvin Pickard to start. But after Pickard was hurt in Game 3 vs. Vegas, Skinner has stepped back in and delivered, winning his past four games to help secure the series wins over Vegas and Dallas.
For the Panthers, this is their third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. Florida’s streak started after Tampa Bay’s three-year run to the Cup Finals ended as the Lightning won back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021 before losing to the Colorado Avalanche in 2022. Florida made it to the Cup Final in 2023 against the Vegas Golden Knights but lost in five games before beating the Oilers last year.
After beating the Lightning in the opening round in five games and dispatching the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven, the Panthers machine kept rolling in the Eastern Conference finals as they beat the Carolina Hurricanes in five to set up the rematch with the Oilers.
Panthers centre Sam Bennett leads all players in goals this postseason with 10, while captain Aleksander Barkov leads the squad in points with 17.
Edmonton and Florida met twice in the regular season with the Panthers winning both by one goal. They faced off on Dec. 16 as Florida won 6-5 and again on Feb. 27, the Panthers skated away with a 4-3 win.
The Panthers have the confidence knowing they are capable of winning it all again after last year’s run, while the Oilers have the bitter taste of knowing they were so close in 2024 but failed. But it’s a new year and a new series with a second straight win on the line for Florida and history for the Oilers, who look to be the first Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup since 1993.