PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Panthers

The Edmonton Oilers will face the Florida Panthers at Rogers Place on Monday in a rematch of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Panthers

EDMONTON, AB – Following their 6-3 win over the Golden Knights, the Edmonton Oilers will look to avenge last season’s Stanley Cup Final defeat to the Florida Panthers when they try to continue their win streak on Monday night against the defending champions.

The Oilers have won five consecutive games and eight of their last nine dating back to Nov. 21 following Leon Draisaitl's three-point afternoon and goaltender Stuart Skinner making 38 saves on Saturday against Vegas. Edmonton's lone defeat over their last nine games, a 1-0 shutout loss to the Golden Knights, was a game in which the Oilers outplayed their opposition but were still handed the loss.

Edmonton has outscored their opponents 39-17 over that nine-game sample size, a stretch that's brought them back within three points of the Pacific Division lead.

“We created looks earlier on in the season, they just didn’t seem to go our way,” Draisaitl said. “Everything is a little more clean right now and we are hitting the right spots at the right time.”

If their play remains at that level of clean, they will be in the Stanley Cup Final conversation come playoff time.

At the 16:32 mark of the second period on Saturday, Jack Eichel checked Mattias Ekholm hard into the boards, sparking animosity among players and fans for the dirty hit that wasn't called.

“When you are a D-man, those are scary moments,” Darnell Nurse shared post-game Saturday about hte hit on his teammate. “I am sure [Jack Eichel] didn’t intend to push him like that, but I don’t know what they saw.”

“I don’t know what to say, I felt it was pretty self-explanatory,” Mattias Ekholm added. “The explanation I got was that [the ref] didn’t think the cross-check was that forceful. I kind of look at the whole picture… Obviously, I think it’s a penalty.”

Eichel does not have a history of major penalties as he received his first career game misconduct when he speared the Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov on Mar. 30 earlier this calendar year.

In Florida, the Panthers have been their usual consistent selves. Since the start of the 2023-24 season, they have posted a 70-35-8 regular season record including a Stanley Cup Finals victory last season over the Oilers. They also appeared in the Final during the 2022-23 season.

However, as of late, the Panthers have struggled, having failed to score a goal over the first two games of their Western Canada road trip and losing by a combined score of 7-0. The Panthers were shut out 3-0 by the Flames on Saturday night.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice doesn’t believe another game against the Oilers will turn around this rough spot.

“I am not saying a playoff rematch will bring out our best,” Coach Paul Maurice said Saturday. “[Calgary] played well, [Vancouver] played well, our rush defence is terrible and that is why we lost those games.”

Coach Maurice will want to fix that rush defence against a team like the Oilers.

Leon Draisaitl has been fantastic this season as he leads the NHL in goals with 22 and is tied for fourth in the NHL with 45 points. After Saturday’s win over the Golden Knights, the Oilers have now won 39 consecutive home games when Leon Draisaitl collects three or more points.

Draisaitl has been goalless across his last nine games against Florida (including playoffs). He will look to change that Monday night.

Connor McDavid has 11 goals and 23 assists and a plus-minus of +10 in 20 games in the regular season and playoff against the Panthers over his career. In half of his career games against Florida, he has recorded multi-point games.

He had two four-point performances during the Stanley Cup Finals last campaign.

Leading the way for the Panthers is Sam Reinhart with 39 points, including 18 goals, which is fourth in the NHL. Matthew Tkachuk, a familiar foe for the Oilers, is second on the Panthers in points with 30 in 26 games played. Their captain Alexander Barkov has 29 points in 22 games.

Stuart Skinner is the expected starter for the Oilers and has played well against the Panthers as of late. In games four through seven, he posted a save percentage of .935 and a GAA of 1.76. He posted a record of 3-1-0 over those four games.

Sergei Bobrovsky is the expected Panthers netminder with a 13-6-1 record this season including a 2.87 GAA and a .892 save percentage.

Both netminders have posted one shutout each this season.