With Mattias Ekholm scoring his first goal of this postseason in Game 1 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers made some more history, which they have done a lot of in the Era of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers now have 20 different skaters with at least one goal these playoffs. That’s the most so far this decade (the 2023 Vegas Golden Knights had 18 unique goal scorers previously), and tied the Oilers franchise record, set during their first successful Cup run in 1984.
Not only is it a rarity in the playoff history of this franchise, but it’s a significant achievement league-wide. The 2025 Oilers became just the ninth team in NHL history to pull off that feat. Meaning, besides the 1984 Oilers, only seven other teams have ever done that in a single postseason.
This year’s Oilers, and balanced scoring
So far, 23 different skaters have taken to the ice for the Oilers in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, 14 of whom are forwards and nine of whom are defencemen. Some played early on, and then didn’t see the ice again, while others are more recent lineup additions. Ekholm, the latest unique goal-scorer, was playing just his second playoff game this year (and first at home) after needing time to recover from a significant midseason injury.
Only three Oilers skaters these playoffs haven’t scored a goal, and they’re all defencemen. Josh Brown almost doesn’t count, given he didn’t even reach five minutes of ice time in his only game, Game 1 of the first-round series versus the Los Angeles Kings. Ty Emberson seems to save his goal-scoring for games against the San Jose Sharks, and Troy Stecher had some opportunities in the six games he’s played during this run, but wasn’t able to convert any of them.
At the other end, the top goal-scorers:
The leader is no surprise here, as Draisaitl is following up a 50-goal, Rocket Richard Trophy-winning regular season with a strong postseason. Not only is he knocking at the door of double-digits, but he’s tied an NHL playoff record by having three of those goals be overtime winners. His 2024–25 campaign as a whole has been one of the most clutch we’ve seen in a long time.
The current runner-up is a surprise, as Corey Perry, 40 years young, is playing like it’s 2010 and has notched seven goals to this point of the run. McDavid and Evan Bouchard are tied for third place with six goals each, while Evander Kane, Zach Hyman, Connor Brown, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins complete the set of eight Oilers with at least five goals this postseason.
Five additional players (Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Kasperi Kapanen, Darnell Nurse, Viktor Arvidsson) have multiple goals during this run, with the remaining seven having one tally apiece. Still a top-heavy slant, but the contributions of the entire lineup have all been crucial in their own way.
Now, for a look at the other eight teams in the “20 different playoff goal scorers” club:
2019 St. Louis Blues
The “Gloria” run was truly a thing of magic, not just for the fact of St. Louis ending an over-50-year wait for a visit from Lord Stanley, but for matching their opponents in terms of how many players on their roster could score. Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko led the way with 12 and 11 goals respectively, with Conn Smythe Trophy winner Ryan O’Reilly placing third with eight goals.
Former Oilers David Perron and Pat Maroon were on this team, and the only Blues playoff skater who didn’t register a goal was veteran defenceman Jay Bouwmeester (who made up for not scoring a goal by notching seven assists during that run).
2019 Boston Bruins
Opposite the Blues, the 2019 Bruins were no slouches in having a balanced scoring plan. This one may actually be more leveled out than the Blues depending on how you look at it. Four Bruins players (Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, Charlie Coyle, and current Panther Brad Marchand) had nine goals over the course of their playoff run, while almost everyone else had between two to four goals each.
Defenceman John Moore was the only Bruins playoff skater not to find the back of the net, while Karson Kuhlman and Steven Kampfer each managed one goal.
1995 New Jersey Devils
Surprise! Before they became the masters of the Trap game, the New Jersey Devils were a well-rounded offensive attack that just so conveniently also had a young stud in net named Martin Brodeur. That Brodeur kid would have a lot more Finals to play in after this one, but focusing on the goal scorers, Claude Lemieux did a lot of it with 13 goals across 20 playoff games.
Only four other players managed to reach the five-goal mark, but still fifteen other skaters managed to score, including noted defensive defenceman Ken Daneyko. Defenceman Kevin Dean and centre Danton Cole played a combined four games, and were the only two skaters to not dent the twine.
1993 Toronto Maple Leafs
Yes, the Leafs have turned the trick, despite not playing more than three rounds in a single Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 1993 Leafs had three different 10+ goal scorers, as Dave Andreychuk led the way with 12, followed by Leaf legends Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark with 10 each.
Former Oilers Glenn Anderson and Mike Krushelnyski factored into the Leafs scoring that postseason, while just two Leafs skaters (Jamie Macoun, who chipped in six assists, and Dave McLlwain) finished without a goal in a run that saw the Leafs go to seven games in all three series they played in.
1991 Pittsburgh Penguins
Current Oilers Assistant Coach Paul Coffey would remember this team well—he was one of the 20 skaters for the Penguins who had a playoff goal that year (two goals, in fact!). Kevin Stevens tends to be forgotten on a roster that had the likes of Coffey, Mario Lemieux, and Jaromir Jagr, but he led the way with 17 goals during that playoff run that led the Pens’ to their first-ever Cup, while Lemieux finished a close second with 16 tallies.
Defencemen Peter Taglianetti and Randy Hillier were the two skaters of this roster unable to pot a goal during this run.
1987 Philadelphia Flyers
If not for having to go up against the dynasty Oilers in a Game 7 at the old Coliseum, the Flyers would have won the 1987 Stanley Cup, and though he won the Conn Smythe, it wasn’t just Ron Hextall contributing to their near-miss. Brian Propp led the way for this team with 12 goals, while their now-Head Coach Rick Tocchet scored 11 times during this run.
The Flyers didn’t complete this feat until Game 6 of the Final, as J.J. Daigneault’s only 1987 playoff goal was the winner late in the third period of that game. That goal probably gets remembered a lot differently if Game 7 went the other way; thank goodness it didn’t.
1986 St. Louis Blues
Probably the one member of this exclusive club that gets talked about the least. Like the 1993 Leafs, the Blues only made it as far as the Conference Final (playing two fewer games in the process), but went that far thanks to a team effort for goal-scoring. Greg Paslawski was the only Blue during that playoff run to reach 10 goals, with Gilmour appearing yet again in second place, this time with nine. Bernie Federko and Mark Hunter got to seven goals apiece, with everyone else in the one to four goal range. Three defencemen (Jim Pavese, Bruce Bell, Kent Carlson) finished without a goal.
1984 Edmonton Oilers
The original 20-unique-scorers team, and the team that this year’s Oilers just matched in the club record books. Gretzky, Anderson, Coffey, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Kevin Lowe, Lee Fogolin; that team was destined to win it all after losing the previous year to the same New York Islanders (hmm, sound familiar?).
Kurri actually finished with the most goals, with 14 (Gretzky had 13, but of course added a boatload of assists), and who remembers Ken Linseman’s 10-goal playoff run? Conn Smythe winner Mark Messier had eight goals. Defencemen Larry Melnyk and Rick Chartraw combined for just seven games played and the distinction of being the only two Oilers that year without a playoff goal. At least they have some company as of this year.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
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