Comebacks have become a regular thing this spring for the Edmonton Oilers, who pulled off another one in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night.
Leon Draisaitl’s power-play goal at 19:29 of overtime lifted the Oilers a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series, a rematch of last year’s Final, when the Panthers won in seven games. The NHL regular-season goal-scoring leader finished off a pass from Connor McDavid to cap Edmonton’s comeback after trailing 3-1 early in the second period.
Viktor Arvidsson made it 3-2 at 3:17 of the second, and defenseman Mattias Ekholm tied it 3-3 at 6:17 of the third period.
“I think we’re more experienced,” Ekholm said of the difference between last year and the comeback win in Game 1. “I think those are the little details that make you stay calm and not get too excited about something that you have a lot of work left to do. So I’m happy with the way we played tonight and happy with the focus. I thought we never deviated from the plan, and obviously (we) got a big OT win — but it’s about flushing this tomorrow and getting back to work.”
Draisaitl’s goal came with Panthers center Tomas Nosek in the penalty box for delay of game after shooting the puck over the glass, and it gave the Oilers the 41st multigoal comeback win in Stanley Cup Final history. The last one also came at Rogers Place, but it didn’t involve the Oilers: During the 2020 bubble, the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied to defeat the Dallas Stars 5-4 in overtime in Game 4.
It was the 10th multiple-goal comeback win in Game 1 of a Final and the first since 2019, when the Boston Bruins spotted the St. Louis Blues a two-goal lead before rallying for a 4-2 victory.
Related: McDavid, Draisaitl OT magic among takeaways from Oilers’ Game 1 win against Panthers
Oilers rally past Panthers in Game 1 of Final on Leon Draisaitl OT goal
Edmonton tied a franchise record with its third multigoal comeback win of this year’s playoffs. That’s a good omen for the Oilers; they also had three in 1988 and 1990, the last two times they’ve won the Cup. Edmonton leads the League for the most comeback wins this postseason with seven. The Oilers are tied with the Dallas Stars for the most third-period comeback wins with four.
“We’ve done it all year, especially in the postseason,” Draisaitl said of rallying from multigoal deficits to win, something the Oilers did five times during the regular season. “We stick with it, and we’re never gonna quit.”
The comeback was especially impressive considering who it came against. The Panthers are the defending champions and are in the Final for the third time in as many years since hiring Paul Maurice as coach. The loss was their first when leading after the first or second period in three postseasons under Maurice. They had been 31-0 in such situations before Wednesday.
It’s the first time a Canadian team has had a lead in the Final since 2011, when the Vancouver Canucks won the first two games against the Boston Bruins, only to lose in seven games. History says the comeback win puts the Oilers on the inside track to their first championship in 36 years – and the first by a Canadian team since 1993. Teams that win Game 1 in a best-of-7 Final own an all-time series record of 65-20 (.765), including 52-10 (.839) when winning Game 1 at home.
Game 1 winners have won the past four Stanley Cups; the 2020 Stars were the last Game 1 winner that failed to win the Cup, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. It was the 19th Game 1 in Final history to go into overtime; 14 of the 18 previous 18 winners went on to win the Cup.
Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner said after his 29-save performance that the Game 1 comeback win leaves his team in much better shape than last year, when Edmonton lost the first three games, won the next three but lost 2-1 in Game 7.
“It’s huge,” he said. “Obviously when you look back at it (last year) if we get one win right away it is a completely different story.
“I think the way that we showed up right from the get-go and the way that we continued to keep on going even though we were down by two (goals), that shows a lot of character from us.”
The two-goal night and OT winner also represent a comeback of sorts for Draisaitl, who didn’t score during the Oilers’ seven-game loss to the Panthers in last year’s Final. He finished with three assists while playing with rib and hand injuries.
The game-winner was Draisaitl’s 50th career playoff goal. It came in his 91st playoff game; he’s the second active player to reach 50 goals prior to his 100th game. Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche did it in 89 games.
“It’s a special feeling,” Draisaitl said. “It’s great for right now, but we’ve got to look ahead and get ready for Game 2.”
Draisaitl also tied the NHL record for most OT goals in a single postseason with three, joining Mel “Sudden Death” Hill of the 1939 Bruins, Maurice Richard of the 1951 Montreal Canadiens, and two active players – Edmonton’s Corey Perry, who did it with the Anaheim Ducks in 2017, and Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers in 2023.
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