The Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers are a battle of juggernauts – both teams have something to prove. The Oilers are looking to win their first Stanley Cup of the Connor McDavid era, and the Panthers are looking to establish themselves in dynasty territory. The difference in this bout is the Oilers have developed a resiliency that the 2024 Oilers could have only dreamed of. After going down 3-1 early in the second, the Oilers battled back to tie the game and eventually win Game 1 in overtime.

A minute into the game Walman sent a blast from the blue line that was deflected wide by Sergei Bobrovsky – Kane was denied again by the Florida net minder, but Draisaitl was there for a one timer blast to score the opening goal of the series.

Ten minutes later Matthew Tkachuk found Carter Verhaeghe directly in the slot for an early Panther equalizer. The Oilers challenged the goal for goaltender interference, which quite frankly, they shouldn’t have. Sam Bennett was pushed into Stuart Skinner by Brett Kulak; the goal was good, and Edmonton went onto the penalty kill due to delay of game – where Brad Marchand would score the go-ahead goal.

Early into the second period Nate Schmidt rushed into the zone and found Sam Bennett empty on Skinner’s glove side; Schmidt sent a clean pass to Bennett who quickly wristed the puck to extend Florida’s lead to two.

The Oilers got some much needed momentum from Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson only a couple minutes later. Podkolzin entered the zone with speed and drop passed the puck to Arvidsson didn’t think twice before sending a slapshot straight through Bobrovsky to cut the Panther’s lead in half and give the Oilers some life in the second period.

Edmonton continued to battle, and they wouldn’t find the equalizer for nearly twenty minutes of play. Seven minutes into the third, the Oilers were able to gain entry into the Panthers zone with speed – Kasperi Kapanen rocketed a pass to Connor McDavid, and McDavid was able to find a centering pass to Mattias Ekholm who beat Bobrovsky through a scrambling defence.

The game was tied 3-3, and it would stay that way into overtime.

The Florida Panthers controlled the puck for the majority of overtime, however, their shot quality was poor. Whenever the Oilers got the puck, it felt like a miracle for the Panthers to keep it out. When the Panthers had possession, they had chances, but the Oilers kept them contained to the outside.

After a nerve wracking 18 minutes, Tomas Nosek flinched and sent the puck over the boards for a delay of game penalty that would seal the fate of Game 1. With only 30 seconds left to go in overtime Ryan Nugent-Hopkins sent the puck down to Corey Perry, Perry sent the puck to McDavid, and McDavid passed the puck to Leon Draisaitl directly in the slot with clear space – and Draisaitl buried it with conviction.

The Oilers take the lead in this years Stanley Cup Finals in a very promising Game 1. The Oilers were able to match the Panthers brutal physicality to overcome a two goal deficit and battle back through an overtime that could have easily gone Florida’s way – this team is built different.

Starting the series with a win is always nice, but there’s plenty of hockey left to play. The Oilers will look to widen their lead on the Panthers this Friday night.