Ekholm gives Oilers lead over Panthers after a period

The Edmonton Oilers hold a 1-0 lead over the Florida Panthers after the first period in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday.

Hostilities started to heat up halfway through the period when Oilers forward Warren Foegele and Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen were involved in a scary knee-on-knee collision. Luostarinen had to be helped off the ice and Foegele was hit with a five-minute kneeing major and a game misconduct for the hit. Luostarinen would later return to the game near the end of the period.

After Panthers defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson was sent off for tripping, the Oilers opened the scoring minutes later on the four-on-four when Mattias Ekholm blasted the puck past Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky on the team's first shot of the game.

Brandon Montour almost evened the score minutes later but his shot hit the crossbar on an open net.

Florida went 0-for-2 on the power play in the period and ended the frame on the man advantage after Evan Bouchard was penalized for roughing. They will begin the second period with 1:14 remaining on the power play.

Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse exited the bench and headed through the dressing room partway through the period. He returned to skate one 13-second shift and left the game for a second time and did not return in the period.

Edmonton went 0-for-1 on the man advantage and did not record a shot.

Florida outshot the Oilers 9-4 in the period despite trailing by a goal.

The Panthers are in their second straight Stanley Cup Final after falling to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games last season. They hold a Stanley Cup series advantage for the first time in franchise history after taking Game 1 3-0 on Saturday night.

Edmonton is in the final for the first time in 18 years. They fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games in the 2006 Stanley Cup Final.