Was anything going to come easy for the Edmonton Oilers in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final? Their path here, the first two games against the Los Angeles Kings aside, seems like a cakewalk that we all got used to. However, the Florida Panthers are not the Kings, they’re not the Vegas Golden Knights, and they’re not the Dallas Stars. They’re going to give Edmonton everything they’ve got, and in Game 5, that everything ends with a 5–2 final score in favour of the guests. The Panthers now have the series lead once again, three games to two.
The issues aren’t difficult to find and they were numerous. The positives might be limited, but there is still hope out there. All we have to do is look back upon recent history, meaning last year since the Panthers are the first team to win three games against the Oilers in a series this year.
Nothing was done offensively for the Oilers through 40 minutes
The good news: The Panthers only managed two goals through two periods. The bad news: The Oilers managed zero. And only had eleven shots on goal after 40 minutes of play.
The Oilers’ problems were myriad. They couldn’t make clean, crisp passes outside of their later two power plays. They got outworked along the boards in several puck battles. And the majority of their shots were cautious and from the perimeter, making Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky’s life easier. Further to the point, the expected goals charts via MoneyPuck don’t paint any brighter of a picture:
Edmonton did not look fast enough for the majority of the evening, and they’ll need to reach further into the tank for more speed in Game 6. They also need to be less afraid to shoot the puck, something Chris Pronger noted for McDavid while doing the pregame show on Sportsnet.
If the Oilers showed even a little more determination in the first and second periods, this would have been a lot different of a game. The Oilers did score once with goaltender Calvin Pickard pulled, so needing a late goal isn’t the issue. It was needing more than one because of a slow start that cannot keep repeating itself.
Defensive lapses, and a subpar night for Pickard
Almost all of the Panthers’ goals involved some form of defensive miscue or brain cramp from Oilers skaters, and a couple of them you’d hope for a save on. The defence was not in peak form, as evidenced by the Sam Reinhart goal that really snuffed any legitimate hope of a comeback.
Forwards also were having a tough go of it, as Vasily Podkolzin got beat cleanly by Brad Marchand, leading to a rush goal against. Podkolzin likely won’t be benched next game, but some conversations will need to be had before Game 6. He not only committed this mistake but took yet another first-period penalty that Edmonton cannot seem to escape right now.
In goal, Pickard did not help the Oilers’ cause as, unlike Game 4, he was not there with any timely saves. The second Marchand goal against is one that especially looks brutal to be giving up since all he has to do was keep his pads to the ice and force the shooter to try and elevate. That did not happen, and this ended up finishing as the game-winner.
The Stanley Cup has not been won
Okay, let’s take a deep breath. This is a team that does its best when its backs are against the wall. We already saw that in Games 1 and 4, where the Oilers erased multi-goal Panthers leads to snag overtime victories, and also nearly did it in Game 2. By no means is this series won yet.
Here are some “history repeats itself” positives to ensure, as we said throughout the Decade of Darkness, that hope will never die:
- The Oilers had to go to Florida for Game 5, with the Stanley Cup in the building and, as a bonus, the Panthers eager to atone for an ugly Game four result. Edmonton snagged a tight victory in that contest to “drag the Panthers all the way back to Alberta” and give the home fans one more chance to be as loud as possible.
- The Oilers have won consecutive games against the Panthers in the playoffs—Games 4 through 6 last year. Only one of those needed to be on the road. That’s all the Oilers need to think right now- go win one on the road.
- Edmonton won Game 4 against Vancouver last year, then lost Game 5, with Calvin Pickard as the goalie of record for both. What happened next? Their two best games of that series, a home win and a road win, to snatch victory away from the Canucks.
There also needs to be some momentum sustained with the late Perry goal in Game 5. Build off of that, learn the little things that made that happen, and get back to playing hard and fast. Cliché, but tried and true.
This series isn’t over yet, and we haven’t seen the best of the Oilers yet. One would argue they actually weren’t that emotionally fired up—not ideal whatsoever, but alright, fine, the Cup wasn’t in the building. Now it will be, and now the Oilers have to play 60 minutes of their best road hockey, to earn a final 60 minutes back home. Now it really matters.
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