If anyone knows how the Oilers are feeling right now, it’s the Florida Panthers – the only team left standing between Edmonton and Canada’s first Stanley Cup in 32 years.
The Panthers entered last year’s Stanley Cup final with the memory of a disappointing loss in the 2023 championship round but managed to put that disappointment aside to scale the NHL mountain, crushing Edmonton’s hopes of a historic comeback and securing their first championship with a Game 7 victory.
Now it’s the Oilers’ turn to rewrite the script as, for the 12th time in NHL history, the same two teams will meet in the Stanley Cup final in consecutive seasons, with Game 1 set to go Wednesday in Edmonton.
Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid have buoyed Edmonton’s hopes for success in the NHL playoffs. The Oilers won five times in a streak from 1984 to 1990, but haven’t won since.Steph Chambers/Getty Images
The heroes
There’s no disguising the dynamic duo that Edmonton is pinning its hopes on to lead the Oilers to their first Stanley Cup in 35 years.
Captain Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl – sitting first and second in the playoff-scoring race with 26 and 25 points, respectively – continue to pad their Hall of Fame resumés with each game and would sorely like a ring to further cement their legacies.
For McDavid, the bearer of Canada’s onerous “The Next One” tag long before he entered the NHL, there is now the opportunity to follow the career arcs of both Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby in winning a first Stanley Cup by dethroning the champs in a final rematch. Gretzky’s Oilers did it in 1984 with a five-game win over the dynastical New York Islanders, while in 2009 Crosby’s Penguins required seven games to avenge their loss in 2008 to the Detroit Red Wings.
But no one elevates their game at this time of year better than Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard, who averages 1.09 points per playoff game, well above his 0.69 rate of return in the regular season. His plus-0.4-point differential is the highest in NHL history among players who have played more than 50 games in both the playoffs and the regular season, marginally higher than second-place Draisaitl’s plus 0.27 (1.48 in the playoffs; 1.21 in the regular season).
Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov hoists the Stanley Cup last year after beating the Oilers, something his team hopes to repeat.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP
For the Panthers, trying to become the first team to beat the same opponent two years straight in the final since the Montreal Canadiens did it against the Boston Bruins in 1977 and ’78, there are no such obvious candidates. The Panthers are a team with 10 players registering double-digit points in the playoffs.
Team captain Aleksander Barkov – awarded the Selke Trophy on Monday as the NHL’s best defensive forward for the third time in five seasons – leads the Panthers with 17 points in 17 games, though his main job on Wednesday may simply be trying to slow McDavid and Draisaitl.
Behind the big Finn – who is aiming to become the first player born outside North America to captain multiple Cup-winning teams – the Panthers also have Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, both with 16 points, the latter leading all playoff goal scorers with 10.
The villains
There’s no shortage of heels in this piece – on both sides. Fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs are certainly in no hurry to forgive Bennett and fellow forward Brad Marchand for their roles in knocking their team – and goaltender Anthony Stolarz – out of the playoffs. Those two aren’t about to pull any punches now that they’re just four wins away from their second championship.
But the Oilers are one of the few teams that could possibly match the Panthers when it comes to a certain level of physical play. Rugged winger Corey Perry – in his sixth Stanley Cup final – and Evander Kane are both known for their needling play and for getting under the skin of opponents.
Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner was born and raised in Edmonton.Steph Chambers/Getty Images
The masked men
Given how well matched the teams are, the netminders will likely have a big say in Lord Stanley’s final destination this year.
Despite giving up 15 goals on 82 shots in his first three playoff starts, Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner is 6-1 with a 1.41 goals-against average, a .944 save percentage and three shutouts since regaining the net after Calvin Pickard’s Game-2 injury in the second round. In last year’s final, Skinner had a 1.67 GAA and .942 save percentage in his three wins and a 2.85 GAA and .876 save percentage in his four losses.
In the other net, two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky has gone 12-5 with a 2.11 GAA, .912 save percentage and three shutouts in starting all 17 playoff games.
Like Skinner, he has bounced back big time from some shaky play earlier in the playoffs, going 7-2 with a 1.34 GAA, .944 save percentage and two shutouts since allowing 13 goals on 81 shots in the first three games against the Maple Leafs. In last year’s final, he had a 1.25 GAA, .955 save percentage and one shutout in his four wins, with a 5.06 GAA and .793 save percentage in the three losses.
The road to success
Though the Oilers have home-ice advantage in this year’s meeting, the Panthers are unlikely to care. The Eastern Conference final saw them tie a franchise record with their eighth road win in one playoff year, and they also set the NHL mark for total goals through 10 road games in a single postseason with 48. The Panthers, like the Oilers, have also won all three of their series this spring on the road. Florida can join a select group of just four teams (the 2008 Red Wings, the 2009 Penguins, the 2018 Capitals and the 2022 Avalanche) to win four series away from home in a single postseason.
The resilience factor
While much has been made of Edmonton rallying from 0-3 down in last year’s final to force a Game 7, both teams have had their resilience tested this spring. The Oilers were staring at a 2-0 deficit in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings before going 12-2 since to reach the final.
Meanwhile, Florida found itself down 2-0 against Toronto in Round 2 but won Game 3 in overtime before rattling off another seven wins in eight games to reach their third consecutive final.
Adam Henrique and Stuart Skinner have each played more than 1,000 NHL games without a Stanley Cup win, which they hope to change this season.Steph Chambers/Getty Images
The waiting game
It’s hard to discuss the Stanley Cup in this country without mentioning that a Canadian team hasn’t lifted one since the Canadiens did it 32 years ago.
But on an individual level, there are plenty of players whose patience has been repeatedly tested in pursuit of hockey’s ultimate prize. For Edmonton, Skinner, Adam Henrique, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kane have all logged more than 1,000 NHL games without finding a way into the winner’s circle, while Mattias Ekholm (997 games) is just short of that mark. For Florida, defenceman Seth Jones, who joined the Panthers ahead of the trade deadline, has played 914 games and is playing in his first final.
And both Perry and Marchand – who won in 2007 and 2011, respectively – could add a second championship to their resumés. Perry has the unique opportunity to displace Chris Chelios from the record book and become the first player in NHL history to go 18 years between Stanley Cup wins.
Alison Boulier/The Globe and Mail
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Send us your NHL playoff questions
This year’s playoffs will end once again in an Oilers-Panthers rematch in the Stanley Cup final, but the post-season has left its mark on all five Canadian teams that made it past 82 games.
Wondering whether Edmonton has what it takes to beat Florida in order to bring home the cup this year? What happened with the Jets, Sens and Habs? Where do the Maple Leafs go from yet another early playoff exit? Share your burning NHL playoff questions in the form below and The Globe’s hockey experts will answer them live on Tuesday, June 3, at 1 p.m. ET.