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For a second year in a row, the Edmonton Oilers will play against the Florida Panthers for the Stanley Cup. The Oilers have been strong in their chase for the Cup this year. They defeated the Los Angeles Kings in six games, and then the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars both in five. We now look at three bold predictions for the Oilers as they face the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.
This is the first time since the 2008 and 2009 Stanley Cup Finals that two teams will play a re-match against each other. The positive news for Oilers fans is that the team that lost the first series has gone on and won the second in recent history. In 2008, the Detroit Red Wings took out the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the Penguins would come back the next year and win the Cup from the Red Wings. The Oilers also lost the Stanley Cup Final to the New York Islanders in 1983, but would win the Cup in 1984, defeating an Isles team that had won it four straight times.
Now the Oilers will attempt to win their first Cup since 1990. It would also be the first time a Canadian team has won it all since the Montreal Canadiens did it in 1993. Here are some bold predictions for the Oilers in the NHL's ultimate series.
Connor McDavid breaks a record
Connor McDavid has been great in the playoffs so far. He has six goals and 20 assists in just 16 games in this playoff run. That gives him over 1.5 points per game so far in the playoffs. He was also great last year in the Stanley Cup Final. McDavid scored three goals while adding eight assists last year in the seven-game series. That tied McDavid for seventh all-time for most points in a Stanley Cup Final.
McDavid will break the record for points in the Stanley Cup Final in this series. The record is held by Wayne Gretzky, who scored three goals with ten assists in the 1988 Stanley Cup Final. That is just two more points than McDavid had last year. Further, there will be more pressure on that top line to be productive. With Zach Hyman out for the playoffs, the top-scoring options for the Oilers are all condensed on the top two lines. Hyman was a major part of the run last year and scored two goals with two assists in the Final last season.
Without Hyman, McDavid pairs up with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Corey Perry. Nugent-Hopkins has been solid in the playoffs, with five goals and 13 assists. Meanwhile, Perry has seven goals and three assists. The two of them should give McDavid plenty of chances to rack up 13 points.
Stuart Skinner gets benched again
Stuart Skinner started the first two games of the playoffs against the Kings. He was horrible and was benched. In those two games, Skinner gave up 11 goals on just 58 shots. That gave Skinner an .810 save percentage. So the Oilers made the change to Calvin Pickard. Pickard came in and won six straight starts. He was not stellar, having a .888 save percentage and a 2.84 goals against average, but Pickard was winning.
Still, he was injured, which led to Skinner going back to the net. In his first game back, he gave up four goals on 24 shots and took the loss. Skinner does have three shutouts in the playoffs now, but when things have not gone well, it has been a disaster. He gave up give goals on just 27 shots in game one with the Stars, and then three goals on just 17 shots in his last game. Skinner has shown he can be hit or miss in the playoffs, and the Oilers have shown they are not afraid to move to Pickard. Skinner will have some bad games early in the series, and the Oilers will move to Pickard.
Although Skinner has returned to form and looked excellent since returning to the net, the Panthers have the ability to score in bunches — and that could very well be the case in the 2025 Finals. If Skinner does end up getting shelled, head coach Kris Knoblauch probably wouldn't be too worried about putting Pickard in, as he's still undefeated this postseason.
The Oilers struggle on the road
The Edmonton Oilers have just four losses so far in the playoffs, but three of them have come on the road. Meanwhile, the Panthers have been solid at home overall. The Oilers have scored 65 times over their 16 games in the playoffs. That is an average of 4.06 goals per game so far in the playoffs. That drops to 3.5 goals per game when they are on the road in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Sergei Bobrovsky has been amazing at home this year. He has a .908 save percentage in the playoffs at home, with a 2.09 goals-against average.
The Panthers have not scored as well when they have been at home in the playoffs, but they have been extremely sound on defense. Meanwhile, when the Oilers have been winning on the road, they are winning by scoring a bunch of goals, such as in the 6-3 win over the Stars to clinch the series. Luckily for the Oilers, the first two games of the series are at home before they hit the road to Florida. They are most likely going to need to win both of the home games to have a chance to lift the Cup.
