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For the first time since the start of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, a team has a chance to close out the series and hoist the historic trophy.
That team is the Florida Panthers, and they’ll look to take down the Edmonton Oilers for the second year in a row and claim the Stanley Cup on their home ice at Amerant Bank Arena.
Last season, Florida defeated the Oilers in front of their home fans in Game 7, a thrilling season-ender that came on the heels of the Panthers blowing a 3-0 series lead.
This time it’s been a much more traditional, back and forth affair between the high-powered Oilers and suffocating Panthers.
Two of Florida’s three wins have by at least three goals while both of the Oilers victories have come in overtime, both of which requiring multi-goal comebacks.
Overall, three of the five games have gone to overtime, and only two of the five games have been won by the home team.
Ironically, the last team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups, and clinch each series on home ice, was the Oilers back in 1987 and 1988.
Before that, the last team to do it was…the Oilers, in 1984 and 1985.
The big question surrounding Edmonton as they prepare for their first elimination game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is which goaltender will get the starting nod, Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard.
Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch has also made several lineup changes throughout the series, so don’t be surprised to see him make another tweak or two ahead of Tuesday’s affair.
As for Florida, as long as they remain healthy, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice has been very comfortable rolling out the same lineup night after night.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Game 6 against Edmonton:
Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Jonah Gadjovich
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt – Dmitry Kulikov
Scratches: Mackie Samoskevich, Uvis Balinskis, Jesper Boqvist, Nico Sturm, Jaycob Megna
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Photo caption: Jun 14, 2025; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) celebrate win with teammates against the Edmonton Oilers in game five of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. (Sergei Belski-Imagn Images)
