Edmonton Oilers Barely Needed a Minute to Open Up the Scoring in Stanley Cup Final

The Stanley Cup Final got off to a hot start on Wednesday.
Draisaitl celebrates his Game 1 goal.
Draisaitl celebrates his Game 1 goal. / Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images

The Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers are facing off in the NHL's Stanley Cup Final for a second consecutive year and puck dropped for Game 1 on Wednesday night. It did not take the Oilers very long to make their mark. In fact, they barely needed one minute to open up the scoring.

In front of a raucous crowd hungry to see the Oilers redeem themselves after last year's seven-game heartbreaker, Rogers Place absolutely exploded in Edmonton after Leon Draisaitl found the net empty off a rebound and put the Oilers up 1-0 with 18:54 remaining in the first period.

An incredibly exciting start to what should be a tremendous series. The Oilers went down 3-0 this time last year before improbably forcing a Game 7 that they would go on to lose. They seem uninterested in letting that happen again if this nearly-instantaneous lead is any indication.

Draisaitl's goal kicks off the Oilers' quest for Lord Stanley. And what a goal it was.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.