Leon Draisaitl Plays Hero for Oilers in Game 1

The Edmonton Oilers fight back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Florida Panthers in overtime taking Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Jun 4, 2025; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) reacts after scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers during the first period in game one of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. / Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images

Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl rifled a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky at 19:29 of the overtime period to lift the Oilers past the Florida Panthers 4-3 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final Wednesday night.

Stuart Skinner made 29 saves to keep the Oilers in the game.

Draisaitl's game winner, his second goal of the game, came on a power play after Panthers' defenseman Tomas Nosek fired the puck over the glass while in his defensive zone. The Panthers were penalized for delay of game and Edmonton had the advantage with the extra skater. The Panthers could not successfully kill the power play.

The Oilers, who lost the first three games of the Final last season to Florida, sent the fans home happy. They will reassemble for Game 2 of the series Friday night.

Last season the Oilers lost the first three games of the Cup to Florida en route to losing in seven games. There will be no such deficit after the win Wednesday night.

Edmonton rallied back from a 3-1 deficit in the second period. Connor McDavid led the Oilers back with his precision passing and speed through the Panthers zone. Fourth-line player Viktor Arvidsson scored to make it 3-2 and then McDavid took over.

McDavid assisted on the game tying goal by Mattias Ekholm, who just returned from injury during the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Stars. Ekholm tied it up on a pass from McDavid with 13:27 left in regulation.

Sam Bennett led the Panthers with two goals and his second gave Florida the 3-1 lead. It was extremely uncharacteristic of the defending champions to surrender a two-goal lead and then lose in overtime. Bobrovsky was greeted with chants of "Sergei! Sergei!" by the raucous partisan crowd. Skinner was brilliant late in the game and turned back the Panthers in the early portion of the extra stanza where they applied tremendous pressure.

According to the telecast, the team that wins Game 1 wins the series 77 percent of the time.

The Stanley Cup has not resided in Canada since 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens took it home. Edmonton is three wins away from winning the Cup.

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