Forward Brad Marchand scores the winner for the Panthers during the second overtime period on Friday to even up the Stanley Cup Final with a 5-4 victory over the Oilers in Game 2 at Rogers Place
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EDMONTON, AB – Only one rat in Alberta.
After Corey Perry equalized for the Oilers with 18 seconds left in regulation, Panthers centre Brad Marchand notched his second goal of the contest at 11:55 of the second overtime period on Friday night to give the defending champions a 5-4 victory in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place.
Perry scored the latest tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history at six-on-four late in the third period, but after neither team could end it in the first overtime, Marchand would fight off a backcheck from Leon Draisaitl on a breakaway to slide home the winner under Stuart Skinner in the second sudden-death frame.
“There’s going to be some disappointment, but we’ve had the mentality that no matter what happens – a bad game, a close game or whatever it is – that we put it behind us and get ready for the next one,” Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. “In the playoffs, sometimes it works out in your favour and sometimes it doesn’t. But I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job of responding and putting whatever happens in the past to get focused on the next game.”
Evan Bouchard had a goal and two assists, Connor McDavid had three assists, and Draisaitl had a goal and an assist for the Oilers in front of goaltender Stuart Skinner, who made 37 saves on 42 shots in the defeat to see his six-game playoff win streak come to an end.
Despite the late rally from the Oilers, they couldn’t protect separate 2-1 and 3-2 leads in the first period, suffering only their second defeat on home ice in these playoffs (7-2) and their first loss since Game 1 of the Western Conference Final.
“We lost with 0.4 seconds left a couple of series ago. Those are tough,” Perry said. “You can go home and think about it, but tomorrow, you get some rest and get on the plane and be ready for Game 3… They’re a good team. They’re going to push us to the limit, and we’re going to push back. It’s frustrating right now, but we’re in the Final for a reason.”
Florida’s victory evens the series 1-1 heading to Sunrise for Games 3 & 4 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday and Thursday.
Marchand scores in double overtime as Florida evens the series
Do not – and I repeat – DO NOT give this Oilers team a reason.
Because they’ll show you all the different ways they can make you pay.
If Game 1 was any indication of the type of Stanley Cup Final we’re going to be treated to, the first period of Game 2 at Rogers Place on Friday evening was everything and more after the Panthers and Oilers combined for five goals and 22 penalty minutes in an energetic opening 20 minutes in Oil Country.
But the highlight of the period and the contest – and even possibly his career – belonged to Connor McDavid, who’d link up with Leon Draisaitl for the second straight game to send Rogers Place into rapture by making it 3-2 on the power play with an awe-inspiring go-ahead goal fit for the Dynamic Duo.
An early high-sticking penalty to Evander Kane on Carter Verhaeghe in the first minute of the match produced Florida’s first power play, where once again Sam Bennett was at the centre of the action by providing the controversy that led to the centre finding space in the slot to make it 1-0 for the Panthers.
Mattias Ekholm had his stick knocked out of his hands on the penalty kill before it was nonchalantly kicked away from the Swedish defenceman, who put his hands up in protest as he turned back towards Edmonton’s net to try and defend without his stick.
But the controversial non-call had already had its intended purpose, opening up space in the slot for Bennett to take a short pass from Nate Schmidt and bury his NHL-leading 12th goal of the playoffs past a sprawling Stuart Skinner for the 1-0 lead for Florida at 2:07 of the opening frame.
Ekholm would’ve gotten there if he had his stick in his hands. Funny how that works.
Kane snipes the 1-1 equalizer past Bobrovsky in the first period
The Oilers had the chance to get it right back on the power play when Aaron Ekblad was called for holding the stick of Trent Frederic, but a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins trip on Seth Jones off an offensive-zone draw almost 40 seconds into the man advantage evened things up at four-on-four.
Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky looked sharp early with a big sprawling save on Frederic off the rush after we returned to even strength, but the goals from the Oilers and the “Serrrgggeiii!” chants from inside Rogers Place were about to start flowing after the seven-minute mark of the opening frame.
Off a broken regroup in the neutral zone, Viktor Arvidsson tried to pass it into the path of Connor McDavid before it took a deflection on its way to Evander Kane, who skated in freely on the left side and changed his angle of attack before firing it past Bobrovsky off the far post and in for his sixth of the playoffs.
The Oilers and Panthers were back at four-on-four just over a minute later when Darnell Nurse and Matthew Tkachuk were both in the penalty box, which allowed Evan Bouchard the space to jump into the rush with his Oilers teammates and the time needed to reload after his initial shot was blocked.
Bouchard took a drop pass in the slot from McDavid before he let go of a wrist shot that was blocked by Florida captain Aleksander Barkov, but the rebound fell right back to the defenceman, who reloaded and ripped his seventh goal of the postseason past the flat-footed Bobrovsky to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead.
With 71 games played, Bouchard matched Cale Makar as the fastest active defenceman to 20 career playoff goals, as the 25-year-old blueliner crossed the 20-point threshold in the postseason for the second time in his career after posting 32 points (six goals) in 25 games last year.
Only six other blueliners in NHL history have hit the mark that quickly: Paul Coffey (48 GP), Brian Leetch (49 GP), Bobby Orr (50 GP), Denis Potvin (52 GP), Al MacInnis (70 GP) and Paul Reinhart (70 GP).
Bouchard reloads after a blocked shot & fires home the go-ahead goal
The Panthers would respond 1:17 later through defenceman Seth Jones, who crept in unnoticed on the far side to finish off a back-door feed from Eetu Luostarinen to tie the game at 2-2 after Oilers winger Kasperi Kapanen couldn’t deflect the puck out of Edmonton’s zone to alleviate the pressure.
Florida was getting brave at this point, with Sam Bennett trying to find the line between what is and isn’t goaltender interference by attacking the Oilers crease on the next shift and falling onto Stuart Skinner’s right leg to cause a scrum and leave the Oilers netminder on the ice in pain.
Skinner shook it off as the Oilers went back to the power play, and they’d make the Panthers pay exactly a minute after they equalized, thanks to Connor McDavid completely rinsing Aaron Ekblad with one of the filthiest toe drags you’ve ever seen when you consider the player and the pressure-filled environment of the Stanley Cup Final.
After side-stepping Barkov at the top of the zone, McDavid walked around Ekblad with a ridiculous move to send the Florida blueliner falling to the ice as he made the pass to Draisaitl in his favourite spot in the right circle, dispatching the routine one-timer past Bobrovsky and pointing to his other half of the Dynamic Duo in appreciation of the incredible set-up.
Draisaitl finishes off McDavid’s incredible dangle on the power play
The move from McDavid was shades of Game 6 in the 2024 Western Conference Final against Dallas, when he walked one of the League’s best D men in Miro Heiskanen in a 2-1 victory that sent the Oilers to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2006. If you thought that goal was big, let’s hope we can look back on that one fondly later this summer.
The Oilers captain leads the NHL in primary assists this playoffs with 18 and by a margin of 18 over the last two postseasons (McDavid has 42; Draisaitl is second with 24). Draisaitl’s tally was his 10th of the playoffs and already his third goal in this Cup Final after failing to score in seven games last year, and Bouchard picked up the secondary helper to finish the period with a goal and two assists – his seventh time this postseason recording three or more points.
John speaks following Friday’s 5-4 double OT defeat in Game 2
Give the Panthers credit – they know how to grind it out.
Florida has had its best moments in this series during the middle frame, and they were leading 4-3 after two periods on Friday night to come within 20 minutes of taking an even series to Sunrise in the Stanley Cup Final after capitalizing on some sloppy execution from Edmonton.
“Tonight, it was puck execution,” Knoblauch said. “I know our passes weren’t sharp. We gave away a lot of pucks. So if you can’t make that first pass and you’re stuck in the defensive zone, you might get it out. But especially in the second period, if you just get it out to the neutral zone, you can’t change. Then you get stuck. I think that’s what happened in the second period tonight. The execution wasn’t what we needed. We have to execute a lot better.”
“In the first and the third, I thought that part of our game was pretty sharp, but we gotta make sure we do it for the full 60.”
The Panthers found their game in the middle frame by using their forecheck to stamp out breakout attempts while their defencemen stepped up aggressively to deny the Oilers zone entries, resulting in some longer shifts for Edmonton spent either defending in the defensive zone or trying to chase down the puck.
“They’re a big forecheck team. They’re pinching hard as well,” defenceman John Klingberg said. “So I think we’re doing a pretty good job coming back as five. It’s not just on the D to break out the puck. I think the forwards are doing a good job on the walls, and we’re having a low centre as well, so it’s about communication and coming back in the zone.”
Edmonton needed to kill off the remaining time on a cross-checking penalty assessed to Evan Bouchard late in the first period. When the defenceman exited the box to create a two-on-one opportunity with Connor Brown, Bobrovsky made an important save before covering up the rebound.
On the same shift, Bouchard jumped into an odd-man rush with Bouchard and Kane, finding himself wide open on the right side to accept a pass from McDavid and having the entire half of the net to shoot at before putting it into Bobrovsky’s chest protector in unfortunate fashion.
The Oilers would rue those missed chances to extend their lead when defenceman Dmitry Kulikov made it 3-3 at the end of a long shift spent defending at 8:23 of the middle frame, sifting a long shot through traffic with Matthew Tkachuk causing issues for Stuart Skinner in his crease.
The Oilers were back on the power play a few minutes later to try and take back the lead, but after they couldn’t get anything going, the Panthers pounced on a wayward pass from Nugent-Hopkins near the blue line, leading to a breakaway that Marchand placed five-hole on Skinner for the lead.
Kris speaks after the Oilers fell in double OT to the Panthers on Friday
HOW Corey Perry?!
HOW are you able to do these amazing things that you’re doing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs at 40 years of age?!
We’re going to refrain from asking questions, because we wouldn’t have been where we were – heading to overtime with the chance to take a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final – without the veteran forward of six trips to the big dance scoring the latest tying goal in Final history with 18 seconds remaining.
Just accept the fact that ‘The Worm’ has his ways.
“He made a lot of good plays, and he capped it off at the end of the third period,” Knoblauch said. “But in the third, he had a lot of opportunities – a partial breakaway, alone in front of the net a couple of times – showing determination in finding a way to see the puck and then obviously putting it in the net. He’s got a skill for that, and that’s definitely what we’re thinking about when we added him last year for the playoffs.”
Perry scores the latest tying goal in Cup Final history to force overtime
After the Oilers pulled Skinner to make it six-on-four, the Oilers threw it all on the line to push this series to sudden death for the second straight game, attacking for one final time and extending what could’ve been their last chance when Corey Perry helped keep hold of the puck along the wall with McDavid.
Walman received it at the blue line and put a shot on goal that was knocked down in front by Nugent-Hopkins, leaving it between the hashmarks as Perry approached from the right circle for a last-ditch attempt at generating any sort of half chance that could possibly get the Oilers to overtime.
Despite Luostarinen leaning down on Perry trying to protect the lead in the waning seconds of regulation, the veteran managed to get his stick across to the other side Florida forward to take a desperation chop at the puck that caught Bobrovsky off guard and found its way into the top corner to make it 4-4.
For the sixth time in NHL history, both Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Final went to overtime.
Corey talks after scoring the late equalizer in Game 2 vs. the Panthers
Stuart Skinner has been working hard to improve the mental side of his game over the past few seasons for this exact moment, and the Oilers wouldn’t have been going to a second sudden-death period in Game 2 without their stoic netminder making a pair of sensational saves in the first overtime.
Klingberg was thanking the Oilers netminder near the midway mark of the extra period when he had the puck taken off his stick below the goal line by Verhaeghe, stripping him of possession and passing it out in front to a wide-open Marchand, who was looking to give Florida the victory.
Marchand was denied emphatically by the outstretched left pad of Skinner before his second effort slid through towards goal, gliding along the ice perilously and kissing the far post to sit loose in the crease until Klingberg was able to pull it off the goal line and clear it away from danger.
Skinner stretches out his pad to deny Marchand in sudden death
Skinner then had to make an awkward save after a shot from Jones during a rush opportunity for the Panthers rebounded off an Oilers defenceman and back towards the crease, forcing Edmonton-born shot-stopper to react quickly to grab it out of midair to force a whistle.
The biggest chance for the Panthers came on a breakaway for Sam Reinhart with less than five minutes left in overtime after both Walman and Klingberg were guilty of leaving their positions on a dangerous rush. After being sprung on a breakaway and coming in alone with time to pick his spot, the centre flashed his wrist shot wide of Skinner to give the Oilers a major let-off in the last few minutes of the first overtime period.
However, the breakaways were going heavily in favour of Florida and were something the Oilers needed to be aware of heading into the second overtime after Kane had the last real chance of the frame, trying to toe-drag Niko Mikkola on a two-on-one but having it broken up at the final release point.
“You have to reset. It resets for everybody,” Perry said. “It’s next goal wins, but you can take some momentum. We came in, we had to catch our breath and get ready for the overtime. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that bounce.”
Leon speaks following the Oilers Game 2 defeat to the Panthers
Rats…
There haven’t been any rats in Alberta for decades – even centuries – but the biggest one was in town on Friday night to even the series with his second goal of the contest on yet another breakaway for the Panthers, where Draisaitl deserved better with the backcheck he provided.
“We made some great plays, and they capitalized on some plays where we probably could have been there,” Perry said. “That’s hockey. One mistake and it gets magnified, and it did tonight.”
“It’s a long change, and we talk about it all the time. You hem them in, you roll the lines over and keep them tired, and that’s the way we play. They found a few shifts where they’re going to do that as well. They’re a great team, and so it’s just one of those things.”
The Oilers had two real good looks in the second overtime on a Vasily Podkolzin shooting chance in the slot that Mikkola blocked at the last second to send it out of play, before Nugent-Hopkins picked out Kapanen on a broken rush for an in-close redirection past the 13-minute mark that Bobrovsky stopped.
Paul speaks after the Panthers tied the series at 1-1 on Friday night
Less than a minute later, Marchand brought Game 2 to an end at 11:55 of the second overtime, getting loose on a breakaway that came off a cruel bounce off the stanchions after Ekholm unleashed a heavy one-timer that went wide.
“Those counterattacks often happen,” Knoblauch said. “We’re on attack and we get a great look. Ekky comes in there and takes a slap shot. If it hits the net, we’re celebrating, but unfortunately, it comes around and it’s a difficult read. Everyone’s going one direction and now it’s coming back the other way.”
“It’s just unfortunate that it worked out that way.”
Bouchard would’ve been able to retrieve the loose puck if it hadn’t bounced off the stanchion and into the path of Anton Lundell, who quickly moved it up to a streaking Marchand as Draisaitl back-tracked ferociously to try and break up the breakaway and help out his netminder.
Draisaitl made a terrific stick lift, but Marchand was able to get a second touch on the puck and slide it five-hole on Skinner for the 5-4 victory.
After two incredibly tight overtime games to open this series, Edmonton now shifts gears to the road, where they’re comfortable competing after having orchestrated some big wins during this postseason away from Rogers Place.
“Each game could have gone either way, and when you win the first one, you’re disappointed if you don’t follow up and win the second one,” Knoblauch said. “But we’re going there with a split, and that’s fine with us. We know we’re comfortable playing on the road. We’ve won a lot of games so far in the regular season and playoffs, so we’ll get ready for Game 3.”

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