The Edmonton Oilers defended home ice in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, taking an overtime win against the Florida Panthers, 4–3.
Playing hero for the Oilers was likely Hart Trophy winner Leon Draisaitl, who opened the scoring just a minute into the game to give Edmonton an early lead, and then closed the game with the winning goal in overtime.
In between Draisaitl’s two goals, the Oilers had their backs against the boards a few times. Edmonton’s 1–0 lead would turn into a 3–1 deficit by the second period, but goals from Viktor Arvidsson and Mattias Ekholm evened the score.
The Panthers appeared to take momentum back at the start of overtime, but after an early flurry of action, the Oilers soon proved to be the more threatening side. An ill-timed delay of game penalty was given to Tomas Nosek after he hit the puck out of play from his own defensive zone, and the Oilers made the man advantage count.
It was the team’s two superstars that finished the game, with Connor McDavid finding Draisaitl, who slammed in the game-winner and sent the Edmonton crowd home happy.
MCDAVID TO DRAISAITL, THE OILERS TAKE GAME ONE IN OVERTIME 🤯🚨 pic.twitter.com/fh0LTyjRPl
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 5, 2025
Edmonton is off to as good a start as they could have hope for, but they still have three wins between them and vengeance for last year’s loss to the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.
Puck drops for Game 2 on Friday night at 8 p.m. ET.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Leon Draisaitl Plays Overtime Hero As Oilers Take Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final.
