(WGR Sports Radio 550) - A couple of familiar faces will duke it out once again for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup in 2025.
In a rematch of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers will battle again in a best-of-seven series to crown a champion for the 2024-25 season of NHL hockey.
The Oilers punched their ticket back to the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday with a 6-3 win in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final over the Dallas Stars.
Edmonton got out to a strong start that set the tone for the entire game, scoring three goals on the first seven shots in the first 8:07 of the opening period.
Goals from 40-year-old Corey Perry and depth forward Mattias Janmark gave the Oilers a quick 2-0 lead on their first two shots of the game. Not only did it force the Stars to call a timeout, but it also resulted in head coach Pete DeBoer pulling goalie Jake Oettinger in favor of Casey DeSmith.
The move did not work so well for the Stars, as just 58 seconds after Janmark's goal, Oilers winger Jeff Skinner - playing in just his second career playoff game at the age of 33 - fired a shot that trickled through DeSmith for his first NHL playoff goal, and to give the Oilers a 3-0 lead.
Dallas did manage to find some fight in their game, making it a 3-2 contest with 7:33 to go in the second period. However, Oilers captain Connor McDavid drove a dagger through the heart of Dallas with a breakaway goal just 2:01 later to put Edmonton back up by a pair.
After Stars forward Jason Robertson scored just 38 seconds into the third period to cut into Edmonton's lead, the Oilers put the game one ice at the 3:21 mark of the final frame thanks to a goal from winger Evander Kane, who got a lucky bounce off a Dallas defender in front of the net to give Edmonton its two-goal lead back again.
An empty-net goal from Kasperi Kapanen with just 11 seconds remaining in regulation put the cherry on top of a 6-3 Edmonton win, and closing out the series in five games in enemy territory.
After losing Game 1 of the Western Conference Final in Dallas, giving up five third-period goals in a 6-3 loss, the Oilers went on to dominate the Stars to complete the "gentleman's sweep", outscoring Dallas 19-5 along the way.
Leading the way for the Oilers throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs has been McDavid, who leads all players in scoring this postseason with 26 points (6+20) in 16 games played.
Right behind the captain is Leon Draisaitl, who has 25 points (7+18) in 16 games played. His seven goals are in a tie for the team lead with Perry, who will be playing in his fifth Stanley Cup Final since the 2019-20 season.
Despite some earlier struggles in net once again in these playoffs, Stuart Skinner has honed in on his game for Edmonton with a 6-4 record, a 2.53 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage in 10 games. While those numbers may not be all that impressive, three of his six wins have come in a shutout.
Just over his last seven games since re-entering the net for Calvin Pickard, Skinner is 6-1 with a 1.41 goals-against average, a .944 save percentage and his three shutouts.
Unlike last year's Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers are set to have home ice advantage to start the series against the Panthers at Rexall Place in Edmonton.
As for the Panthers, they secured their spot in the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday with a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final.
Despite falling behind 2-0 through the first 20 minutes in Raleigh, N.C., the Panthers fought back with a flurry of second period goals to take a 3-2 lead. Then with 7:39 to go in the third period and tied again at 3-3, Panthers winger Carter Verhaeghe put Florida up for good with a goal set up by captain Aleksander Barkov, who fought off defenders to set up his linemate.
Florida ended up adding an empty-netter from winger Sam Bennett, who had just exited the penalty box seconds earlier to put the Panthers up by a pair.
In a rematch of the 2023 Eastern Conference Final, it was almost a similar result for the Panthers with wins in the opening three games of the series. While the 2023 iteration was able to complete the four-game sweep, the Hurricanes managed to stave off elimination in Game 4 in Florida, before faltering on home ice in Game 5.
Once again, it's the captain leading the way for Florida, as Barkov has been stellar for the Panthers with 17 points (6+11) in 17 games played.
Leading the way in the goal scoring department for Florida is Bennett, whose 10 goals so far through 17 games tops all players in the NHL this postseason.
Meanwhile, Florida has a bevy of players with double-digit points in the playoffs, including Matthew Tkachuk (16), Verhaeghe (14), Brad Marchand (14), Sam Reinhart (13), Eetu Luostarinen (13), Anton Lundell (12), Aaron Ekblad (11) and Evan Rodrigues (11).
In goal, it has been the Sergei Bobrovsky show, as the 36-year-old veteran leads all goaltenders this postseason with 12 wins and a .912 save percentage, while also posting an impressive 2.11 goals-against average and three shutouts.
For Florida, this will be the team's third-straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Final after losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023, and bouncing back in 2024 with a win over the Oilers in seven games.
This year's Stanley Cup Final is just the fifth time in the Expansion Era of the NHL where the same two teams will face each other in back-to-back years. The last time it happened was back in 2009 when the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings squared off after playing one another in the 2008 Stanley Cup Final.
Over the course of the 2024-25 regular season, the Panthers and Oilers faced each other twice, with Florida emerging victorious in both matchups. The Panthers first earned a 6-5 road victory in Edmonton back on Dec. 16, 2024, and then downed the Oilers once again, 4-3, on Feb. 27, 2025 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise.
For Edmonton, the franchise looks to be the first Canadian-based team to win the Stanley Cup since the 1992-93 Montreal Canadiens, who beat Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings.
Among the notable former Sabres players taking part in the Stanley Cup Final this year include:
Panthers:
- FW - Sam Reinhart
- FW - Evan Rodrigues
- D - Dmitry Kulikov
Oilers:
- FW - Jeff Skinner
- FW - Evander Kane
Game 1 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final is slated for 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, June 4 at Rexall Place in Edmonton.