<p>It has been 339 days since the Florida Panthers won <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/06/25/the-day-after-25-0-the-oilers-were-right-there/">Game 7</a> of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. While the Panthers rejoiced, the Edmonton Oilers wept. Their lifelong dream didn&#8217;t materialize. They spent months grieving. Some players signed with different teams, while others were traded away.</p>
<p>The remaining players returned to training camp in September 2024, but the pain still lingered. A slow start to the 2025 season ensued, and it really wasn&#8217;t a surprise — players who lose the Final never get over it.</p>
<p>In some ways, it feels like a death, players have told me.</p>
<p></p>
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2107" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="325"></div>
<p>Luckily for the <a href="http://oilersnation.com/stats">Oilers</a>, the NHL playoffs aren&#8217;t final like death. Unless you retire, each season brings another opportunity to win the Cup. However, it is extremely difficult just to make the playoffs, and then win three rounds before you compete in the Final. The Oilers battled through an up and down regular season that ended with injuries to key players like <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/05/29/mattias-ekholm-jeff-skinner-return-edmonton-oilers-game-5-dallas-stars/">Mattias Ekholm</a>, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Some questioned if the Oilers could win, but the players had a strong belief.</p>
<p>And they&#8217;ve shown it. Despite losing their first two games to LA, the Oilers regrouped and have won 12 of their next 14 games and tonight will play Florida for the second-consecutive season in the Cup Final. Revenge is one angle, and it makes sense, but revenge isn&#8217;t the Oilers&#8217; main motivation. Their goal is to win, and for many players on the roster, the quest for the Cup has been a long time coming.</p>
<p><a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/06/03/edmonton-oilers-corey-perry-confirms-no-plans-to-retire/">Corey Perry</a> won a Cup in his second NHL season with Anaheim in 2007. He had turned 22 a month before lifting the Cup. He reached his dream early, but he&#8217;s spent 18 seasons trying to win it again, and no active player has suffered more Cup Final losses than Perry. He lost the Final in 2020 with Dallas, 2021 with Montreal, 2022 with Tampa Bay and last year with the Oilers. This is his fifth Final appearance in six years, but many of his teammates have played many games without sipping champagne from the Cup.</p>
<p>Perry has played 1,453 games since he won the Cup. We are talking a decade, or more, of chasing the dream and coming up short for him and many of his teammates. Here&#8217;s a list of Oilers and their games played (regular season and playoffs) without winning the Cup.</p>
<p>Jeff Skinner &#8211; 1,080</p>
<p>Adam Henrique &#8211; 1,054</p>
<p>Ryan Nugent-Hopkins &#8211; 1,049</p>
<p>Evander Kane &#8211; 1,021</p>
<p>Mattias Ekholm &#8211; 997</p>
<p>Leon Draisaitl &#8211; 880</p>
<p>Darnell Nurse &#8211; 804</p>
<p>Connor McDavid &#8211; 802</p>
<p>And <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/06/03/edmonton-oilers-zach-hyman-opens-up-about-season-ending-injury/">Zach Hyman</a> (753),  Mattias Janmark (744), John Klingberg (722), Viktor Arvidsson  (696), Brett Kulak (672), Connor Brown (654), Troy Stecher (587), Kasperi Kapanen (572) and Evan Bouchard (516) are all over 500 NHL games.</p>
<p>This is Calvin Pickard&#8217;s 13th pro season. He&#8217;s appeared in 200 NHL games and 318 AHL games and many more where he was the backup. Trent Frederic has over 500 NHL and AHL games while Jake Walman is in his ninth pro season with 481 games. Stuart Skinner has played 386 pro games, Vasily Podkozlin has skated in 324 pro games in North America and another 68 in the KHL, and Ty Emberson has the fewest games at 286.</p>
<p>There is no shortage of internal motivation for the Oilers. They have seven players who have lost multiple Cup Finals. This series is about much more than revenge. It&#8217;s about fulfilling a lifelong goal.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve seen veterans acquired in the off-season or at the trade deadline where they go to a contender for an opportunity to win,&#8221; said Adam Henrique. &#8220;It is always, I think, an incredible story when that happens and you see someone in their final game win the Cup and sail off into the sunset. That is a great story. We have a lot of guys who have played a lot of games in this league and haven&#8217;t been able to win yet, so to be able to do it together would be really special.&#8221;</p>
<p>It would be special, and <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/06/02/kris-knoblauch-edmonton-oilers-connor-brown-will-play-game-1-stanley-cup-final/">Connor Brown</a> believes the previous heartaches will help them. &#8220;Growing up you dream about playing in the Stanley Cup Finals,&#8221; said Brown. &#8220;It has been echoed a lot around here that last year felt a bit euphoric, but this year it feels a little different. We believe we belong and we are excited to get to our game plan right away.&#8221;</p>
<p>A good start will be key. The Oilers are 4-0 in Cup Final series when they win Game 1. They are 1-3 when they lose including last year and in 2006.</p>
<h1>SNAPSHOTS&#8230;</h1>
<p>&#8212; Hyman spoke today. He dislocated his wrist and tore some tendons in his hand/wrist. He won&#8217;t be returning this year and couldn&#8217;t say for sure if he will be ready to start next season. Hyman was also very honest about his situation. Originally he thought he could return, but after speaking with the surgeon it was clear his season was over and with it, a chance to help the Oilers hoist the Cup. &#8220;After speaking to the surgeon, that is when it really hit me. My season was over. It was devastating,&#8221; said Hyman.</p>
<p>He also spoke about the FaceTime call he got from his teammates after Game 5 in Dallas. “It caught me off guard. I was watching the game on the couch with my wife and mother-in-law. It was very emotional. I was crying. It meant a lot,” said Hyman. He will be around the team and try to help as much as he can from what he sees from the press box. But the pain in his face was noticeable when he spoke about not being able to play.</p>
<p>&#8212; The Oilers&#8217; PK is 66% in the playoffs, but mainly that is due to being awful early in series. They allowed seven goals (on 12 kills) in the first three games to LA, allowed three goals on seven kills in the first two games v. Vegas and Dallas went 3-for-4 in Game 1. &#8220;Our overall penalty killing numbers haven&#8217;t been good, but a lot of is from really poor games to start a series. We have to own it, look it in the eye and come out on our toes and ready from the start,&#8221; said Brown.</p>
<p>The penalty kill needs to be better tonight.</p>
<p>&#8212; Darnell Nurse wasn&#8217;t healthy for most of the playoffs last year, but his injury got worse in the Final and he averaged just over 15 minutes/game. He is fully healthy this year is excited to get a chance to compete. &#8220;It&#8217;s exciting. I left the Cup Final last year, knowing I had a lot more to to give and and wanted to give and, it was kind of the case with the whole playoffs (due to his injury). So for me, having the opportunity to to get back here and being healthy is great. I feel really good about where our team game is at and individually where I&#8217;m at.&#8221;</p>
<p>Nurse has played the most 5&#215;5 minutes of any Oiler. When he makes simple, smart decisions and lets his great skating take over, he is very effective. If he does that, the Oilers&#8217; chances of winning increase, especially due to the minutes he plays.</p>
<p>&#8212; Connor McDavid is rested and fresh. Same with Leon Draisaitl. Both are ready to play big minutes if necessary, and I expect Kris Knoblauch to lean on them tonight. The Oilers know the importance of winning Game 1 and getting the energetic crowd on their side.</p>
<h1 class="border-b-accent text-accent mb-5 border-b-2 text-3xl font-bold">LINEUPS…</h1>
<h2 class="mb-5 text-2xl font-bold"><a class="text-accent" href="https://oilersnation.com/combinations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Oilers</a></h2>
<div class="mb-5">RNH – McDavid – Perry<br />
Kane – Draisaitl – Kapanen<br />
Frederic – Henrique – Brown<br />
Podkolzin – Janmark – Arvidsson</div>
<div></div>
<div class="mb-5">Ekholm – Bouchard<br />
Nurse – Kulak<br />
Walman – Klingberg</div>
<div class="mb-5">
<p>Skinner</p>
</div>
<div>Connor Brown will play and he injects more speed in the lineup. One detail to watch closely tonight is how the Oilers handle Florida&#8217;s aggressive forecheck and play along the boards. The Panthers love to pinch down their defenseman, especially on the wall, and I think a good way to counter than and protect the puck could be having left wingers play the right side and vice versa, so they could accept the rim pass on their forehand and be facing in the zone and protect the puck. Even NHL players are much better on their forehands than backhands, and that is something I will watch for tonight.</div>
<div>
<h2 class="mb-5 text-2xl font-bold">Panthers</h2>
<div class="mb-5">Rodrigues – Barkov – Reinhart<br />
Verhaeghe – Bennett– Tkachuk<br />
Luostarinen – Lundell – Marchand<br />
Boqvist – Nosek – Gadjovich</div>
<div></div>
<div class="mb-5">Forsling – Ekblad<br />
Mikkola – Jones<br />
Schmidt – Kulikov</div>
<div></div>
<div class="mb-5">Bobrovsky</div>
</div>
<div></div>
<div>Which line matchups will we see? Paul Maurice wants the Forsling/Ekblad pairing out against McDavid&#8217;s line, an</p>
<figure id="attachment_176383" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-176383" style="width: 2000px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-176383" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/va4U3exM.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1313" srcset="https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/va4U3exM.jpg 2000w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/va4U3exM-300x197.jpg 300w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/va4U3exM-1024x672.jpg 1024w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/va4U3exM-768x504.jpg 768w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/va4U3exM-1536x1008.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-176383" class="wp-caption-text">Photoshop by Tom Kostiuk</figcaption></figure>
<p>d if I&#8217;m Knoblauch I&#8217;d take that matchup. The key for Florida has been the success of its third line. Each player on it has 12 points 5&#215;5 to lead the team, and if that continues this series it will be difficult for the Oilers to win.</p></div>
<h1><strong>TONIGHT&#8230;</strong></h1>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div><strong>GAME DAY PREDICTION:</strong> The Oilers improve to 7-1 on home ice these playoffs with a 3-2 victory.</div>
<div></div>
<div><strong>OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION:</strong> Oilers score a PP goal for a sixth-consecutive game.</div>
<div></div>
<div><strong>NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: </strong>Mattias Janmark scores his fourth Stanley Cup Final goal.</div>
<hr />
<h2><strong>ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365</strong></h2>
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It has been 339 days since the Florida Panthers won <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2024/06/25/the-day-after-25-0-the-oilers-were-right-there/">Game 7</a> of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. While the Panthers rejoiced, the Edmonton Oilers wept. Their lifelong dream didn't materialize. They spent months grieving. Some players signed with different teams, while others were traded away.

The remaining players returned to training camp in September 2024, but the pain still lingered. A slow start to the 2025 season ensued, and it really wasn't a surprise — players who lose the Final never get over it.

In some ways, it feels like a death, players have told me.


<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2107" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="325"></div>
Luckily for the <a href="http://oilersnation.com/stats">Oilers</a>, the NHL playoffs aren't final like death. Unless you retire, each season brings another opportunity to win the Cup. However, it is extremely difficult just to make the playoffs, and then win three rounds before you compete in the Final. The Oilers battled through an up and down regular season that ended with injuries to key players like <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/05/29/mattias-ekholm-jeff-skinner-return-edmonton-oilers-game-5-dallas-stars/">Mattias Ekholm</a>, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Some questioned if the Oilers could win, but the players had a strong belief.

And they've shown it. Despite losing their first two games to LA, the Oilers regrouped and have won 12 of their next 14 games and tonight will play Florida for the second-consecutive season in the Cup Final. Revenge is one angle, and it makes sense, but revenge isn't the Oilers' main motivation. Their goal is to win, and for many players on the roster, the quest for the Cup has been a long time coming.

<a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/06/03/edmonton-oilers-corey-perry-confirms-no-plans-to-retire/">Corey Perry</a> won a Cup in his second NHL season with Anaheim in 2007. He had turned 22 a month before lifting the Cup. He reached his dream early, but he's spent 18 seasons trying to win it again, and no active player has suffered more Cup Final losses than Perry. He lost the Final in 2020 with Dallas, 2021 with Montreal, 2022 with Tampa Bay and last year with the Oilers. This is his fifth Final appearance in six years, but many of his teammates have played many games without sipping champagne from the Cup.

Perry has played 1,453 games since he won the Cup. We are talking a decade, or more, of chasing the dream and coming up short for him and many of his teammates. Here's a list of Oilers and their games played (regular season and playoffs) without winning the Cup.

Jeff Skinner - 1,080

Adam Henrique - 1,054

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - 1,049

Evander Kane - 1,021

Mattias Ekholm - 997

Leon Draisaitl - 880

Darnell Nurse - 804

Connor McDavid - 802

And <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/06/03/edmonton-oilers-zach-hyman-opens-up-about-season-ending-injury/">Zach Hyman</a> (753),  Mattias Janmark (744), John Klingberg (722), Viktor Arvidsson  (696), Brett Kulak (672), Connor Brown (654), Troy Stecher (587), Kasperi Kapanen (572) and Evan Bouchard (516) are all over 500 NHL games.

This is Calvin Pickard's 13th pro season. He's appeared in 200 NHL games and 318 AHL games and many more where he was the backup. Trent Frederic has over 500 NHL and AHL games while Jake Walman is in his ninth pro season with 481 games. Stuart Skinner has played 386 pro games, Vasily Podkozlin has skated in 324 pro games in North America and another 68 in the KHL, and Ty Emberson has the fewest games at 286.

There is no shortage of internal motivation for the Oilers. They have seven players who have lost multiple Cup Finals. This series is about much more than revenge. It's about fulfilling a lifelong goal.

"We've seen veterans acquired in the off-season or at the trade deadline where they go to a contender for an opportunity to win," said Adam Henrique. "It is always, I think, an incredible story when that happens and you see someone in their final game win the Cup and sail off into the sunset. That is a great story. We have a lot of guys who have played a lot of games in this league and haven't been able to win yet, so to be able to do it together would be really special."

It would be special, and <a href="https://oilersnation.com/2025/06/02/kris-knoblauch-edmonton-oilers-connor-brown-will-play-game-1-stanley-cup-final/">Connor Brown</a> believes the previous heartaches will help them. "Growing up you dream about playing in the Stanley Cup Finals," said Brown. "It has been echoed a lot around here that last year felt a bit euphoric, but this year it feels a little different. We believe we belong and we are excited to get to our game plan right away."

A good start will be key. The Oilers are 4-0 in Cup Final series when they win Game 1. They are 1-3 when they lose including last year and in 2006.
<h1>SNAPSHOTS...</h1>
--- Hyman spoke today. He dislocated his wrist and tore some tendons in his hand/wrist. He won't be returning this year and couldn't say for sure if he will be ready to start next season. Hyman was also very honest about his situation. Originally he thought he could return, but after speaking with the surgeon it was clear his season was over and with it, a chance to help the Oilers hoist the Cup. "After speaking to the surgeon, that is when it really hit me. My season was over. It was devastating," said Hyman.

He also spoke about the FaceTime call he got from his teammates after Game 5 in Dallas. “It caught me off guard. I was watching the game on the couch with my wife and mother-in-law. It was very emotional. I was crying. It meant a lot,” said Hyman. He will be around the team and try to help as much as he can from what he sees from the press box. But the pain in his face was noticeable when he spoke about not being able to play.

--- The Oilers' PK is 66% in the playoffs, but mainly that is due to being awful early in series. They allowed seven goals (on 12 kills) in the first three games to LA, allowed three goals on seven kills in the first two games v. Vegas and Dallas went 3-for-4 in Game 1. "Our overall penalty killing numbers haven't been good, but a lot of is from really poor games to start a series. We have to own it, look it in the eye and come out on our toes and ready from the start," said Brown.

The penalty kill needs to be better tonight.

--- Darnell Nurse wasn't healthy for most of the playoffs last year, but his injury got worse in the Final and he averaged just over 15 minutes/game. He is fully healthy this year is excited to get a chance to compete. "It's exciting. I left the Cup Final last year, knowing I had a lot more to to give and and wanted to give and, it was kind of the case with the whole playoffs (due to his injury). So for me, having the opportunity to to get back here and being healthy is great. I feel really good about where our team game is at and individually where I'm at."

Nurse has played the most 5x5 minutes of any Oiler. When he makes simple, smart decisions and lets his great skating take over, he is very effective. If he does that, the Oilers' chances of winning increase, especially due to the minutes he plays.

--- Connor McDavid is rested and fresh. Same with Leon Draisaitl. Both are ready to play big minutes if necessary, and I expect Kris Knoblauch to lean on them tonight. The Oilers know the importance of winning Game 1 and getting the energetic crowd on their side.
<h1 class="border-b-accent text-accent mb-5 border-b-2 text-3xl font-bold">LINEUPS…</h1>
<h2 class="mb-5 text-2xl font-bold"><a class="text-accent" href="https://oilersnation.com/combinations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Oilers</a></h2>
<div class="mb-5">RNH – McDavid – Perry
Kane – Draisaitl – Kapanen
Frederic – Henrique – Brown
Podkolzin – Janmark – Arvidsson</div>
<div></div>
<div class="mb-5">Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Kulak
Walman – Klingberg</div>
<div class="mb-5">

Skinner

</div>
<div>Connor Brown will play and he injects more speed in the lineup. One detail to watch closely tonight is how the Oilers handle Florida's aggressive forecheck and play along the boards. The Panthers love to pinch down their defenseman, especially on the wall, and I think a good way to counter than and protect the puck could be having left wingers play the right side and vice versa, so they could accept the rim pass on their forehand and be facing in the zone and protect the puck. Even NHL players are much better on their forehands than backhands, and that is something I will watch for tonight.</div>
<div>
<h2 class="mb-5 text-2xl font-bold">Panthers</h2>
<div class="mb-5">Rodrigues – Barkov – Reinhart
Verhaeghe – Bennett– Tkachuk
Luostarinen – Lundell – Marchand
Boqvist – Nosek – Gadjovich</div>
<div></div>
<div class="mb-5">Forsling – Ekblad
Mikkola – Jones
Schmidt – Kulikov</div>
<div></div>
<div class="mb-5">Bobrovsky</div>
</div>
<div></div>
<div>Which line matchups will we see? Paul Maurice wants the Forsling/Ekblad pairing out against McDavid's line, an

[caption id="attachment_176383" align="aligncenter" width="2000"]<img class="size-full wp-image-176383" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/va4U3exM.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1313" /> Photoshop by Tom Kostiuk[/caption]

d if I'm Knoblauch I'd take that matchup. The key for Florida has been the success of its third line. Each player on it has 12 points 5x5 to lead the team, and if that continues this series it will be difficult for the Oilers to win.</div>
<h1><strong>TONIGHT...</strong></h1>
&nbsp;
<div><strong>GAME DAY PREDICTION:</strong> The Oilers improve to 7-1 on home ice these playoffs with a 3-2 victory.</div>
<div></div>
<div><strong>OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION:</strong> Oilers score a PP goal for a sixth-consecutive game.</div>
<div></div>
<div><strong>NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: </strong>Mattias Janmark scores his fourth Stanley Cup Final goal.</div>

<hr />

<h2><strong>ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365</strong></h2>
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GDB +17.0: Many Oilers are Chasing the Elusive Stanley Cup (6 PM MT, CBC)

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