The Florida Panthers are one victory away from winning the Stanley Cup.
Florida continued their excellent play on the road during the postseason, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The Panthers now return to South Florida holding a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
It was Florida who cracked the ice, and the goal came on an amazing individual play by veteran Brad Marchand.
Directly of a center ice faceoff that Anton Lundell pushed through Leon Draisaitl, Marchand jumped past the Oilers’ front line and snatched the puck from behind Draisaitl.
Marchand then made a great juke to get by Mattias Ekholm and speed in on a semi-breakaway, lifting the puck over the glove of Calvin Pickard to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead at the 9:12 mark.
Shortly after Florida killed off an Oilers power play, Matthew Tkachuk came flying down the right side of the ice and into the Edmonton zone, but his shot was blocked by Jake Walman.
Sam Bennett was right there to pick up the puck and quickly fire it past a suddenly out of position Pickard to double the Cats’ lead late in the opening period.
The story of the middle frame – much like in Game 4 – was Florida’s penalty kill.
This time, the Panthers picked up a pair of massive PKs and didn’t allow Edmonton to gain any momentum, holding on to their two-goal lead and carrying it into the third.
Early in the final frame, Marchand scored what could very well end up being the goal of the Final.
Once again right off a faceoff, this time in the Florida end, Marchand came flying through the circle and pushed the puck up the ice.
After it was poked ahead by Eetu Luostarinen, Marchand sped into the Oilers zone, dangled the puck through Walman’s legs and beat Pickard five-hole to extend Florida’s lead to 3-0.
Just over two minutes later, Connor McDavid gave the dormant Rogers Place crowd some life, making a nice inside-out move and beating Sergei Bobrovsky, getting the Oilers on the board with 12:36 to go.
Unfortunately for the home fans, the excitement would be short lived.
An absolute snipe of a wrist shot by Sam Reinhart went through two Oilers defenders and past a screened Pickard, restoring Florida’s three-goal lead just 46 seconds later.
With Pickard on the bench, Corey Perry fired a long slapshot that got past a screened Bobrovsky, cutting Florida’s lead to 4-2 with 3:13 left.
With 1:19 to go, Eetu Luostarinen sealed the victory with an empty net goal from all the way in Florida’s zone.
The Panthers now head back to Sunrise with a chance to win their second straight Stanley Cup.
What a time to be alive.
On to Game 6.
QUICK THOUGHTS
Florida has scored the first goal in four straight Final games.
Marchand has now scored six goals during the Stanley Cup Final, the first player to do that in 37 years.
As for the playoffs, Marcahand is up to ten goals and 20 points.
Reinhart has scored goals in each of Florida’s past three games. He has six points during the run.
Anton Lundell has points in four straight after picking up an assist on Marchand’s goal.
Sasha Barkov has three assists over his past two games. He had the primary helper on Reinhart’s third period snipe.
Luostarinen has multi-point outings in two of his past three games.
LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA
3 Panthers Who Must Shine In Game 5 vs. Oilers
Stanley Cup Final shifts back to Edmonton as Panthers, Oilers battle in Game 5 of even series
The Hockey Show: Game 4 postgame reaction, NHL Awards talk with PHWA Florida Chapter
Concerning Panthers-Aaron Ekblad Free Agency Update Revealed
Race for Conn Smythe Trophy heating up with Sam Bennett, Leon Draisaitl among top contenders
Photo caption: Jun 14, 2025; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) celebrates his goal with teammates against the Edmonton Oilers during the first period in game five of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. (Sergei Belski-Imagn Images)