Recap of Stanley Cup Final Game One from 4 June

June 5, 2025

The opening 20 minutes of the Stanley Cup Final rematch between the Oilers and Panthers saw Leon Draisaitl score the fastest opening goal of a Final in nearly 50 years, Sam Bennett net a franchise record-tying tally and Brad Marchand match the highest career goal total among active players in the Final. From there, the drama only intensified as the clubs battled for nearly 80 minutes before Draisaitl capped a multi-goal rally with a record-tying overtime goal to give the Oilers a 1-0 series lead.

* All that came in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,347 in Edmonton, which hit a decibel reading of 113.6 when welcoming their team onto the ice for Game 1 – the first Stanley Cup Final opener in front of fans in Canada since 2011.

* Earlier Wednesday, the NHLPA unveiled that Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov was voted by players as the 2024-25 Ted Lindsay Award recipient and Commissioner Gary Bettman later announced that $8.2 million was raised for Hockey Fights Cancer in 2024-25, doubling last year’s fundraising total.

DRAISAITL DELIGHTS HOME CROWD WITH RECORD-TYING OVERTIME GOAL

The decibel reading hit 113.6 as the Oilers hit the ice for Game 1 and undoubtedly exceeded that throughout the contest – particularly when Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner Leon Draisaitl lifted the team to victory with his second goal of the game at 19:29 of overtime.

* Draisaitl tied the Stanley Cup Playoffs record for most overtime goals in one year (3), sharing that mark with four other players including the namesake of the trophy he won this season and two others who are part of this series (Corey Perry: 3 in 2017; Matthew Tkachuk: 3 in 2023).

* The game ended in much the same way that it began, as Draisaitl put Edmonton ahead 1-0 with his first-ever goal in the Final (8 GP). The tally came at 1:06 of the first period and marked the fastest opening goal of a Final in nearly 50 years and the sixth fastest all time.

* Draisaitl’s overtime goal was the 50th of his playoff career (91 GP) and made him the second active player to hit that milestone within his first 100 career playoff games (also Nathan MacKinnon: 89 GP). Draisaitl, who became the first German player with a goal in the Stanley Cup Final since Uwe Krupp in 1996 (also vs. FLA), became the second-fastest European player to 50 career playoff goals, behind Finland’s Jari Kurri (74 GP).

* The Hart Trophy trifecta struck again on the overtime goal, as Draisaitl’s tally was assisted by Connor McDavid and Corey Perry – the second time in NHL history that three players who have won the award connected on a playoff overtime goal (also Game 2 vs. VGK earlier this year).

* Draisaitl became just the third player in the past 91 seasons to score an overtime goal in the Final in the same campaign in which he led the NHL in goals, following Guy Lafleur in 1977-78 (Game 2 of SCF) and Bryan Hextall Sr. in 1939-40 (Game 6 of SCF). Overall, five players have achieved that feat all-time (also Babe Dye in 1921-22 and Bill Cook in 1932-33).

OILERS SET RECORD WITH ANOTHER THIRD-PERIOD RALLY

The Oilers set a franchise record with their fourth third-period comeback win of these playoffs (surpassing the three they had in 1992, 1991 and 1988) and tied the Stars for the most this postseason. Edmonton surpassed Dallas (6) with their seventh win of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs after trailing at any point, one shy of the franchise record of eight achieved in 1987 and 1991.

* Connor McDavid assisted on both the tying and winning goals to captain his club to the 10th multi-goal comeback win ever in Game 1 of a Stanley Cup Final (and first since Brad Marchand and the Bruins staged one to begin the 2019 Final).

* McDavid now has 13 career points in the Stanley Cup Final (3-10—13 in 8 GP), which is tied with Marchand (8-5—13 in 21 GP) for eighth among active players. Corey Perry (8-8—16 in 29 GP) moved into a share of fifth place on that list with his helper on the Game 1 clincher, after also climbing the all-time playoff lists for both career games played (232) and overtime games (53).

* McDavid posted his fourth consecutive multi-point game as well as his 32nd career multi-assist showing, which tied Sidney Crosby, Ray Bourque and Doug Gilmour for the third most in Stanley Cup Playoffs history behind Wayne Gretzky (72) and Mark Messier (40). His first helper of the night was a saucer pass through six players to set up Mattias Ekholm, Edmonton’s franchise record-tying 20th different goal scorer this postseason.

BENNETT SETS AND TIES RECORD DURING THRILLING GAME 1 OF FINAL

The first 20 minutes of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final included three noteworthy achievements to set the tone for a back-and-forth thriller. A summary of other notables from Game 1 is below and more can be found in Live Updates from June 4.

* Playoff goals leader Sam Bennett scored his 11th and 12th goals of the postseason to match and then set a franchise record for goals in one playoff year.

* Eleven of Bennett’s goals have come on the road, which matches an NHL record set by Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele in 2018. That nearly equals Bennett’s goal output on the road during the 2024-25 regular season (13 G in 39 GP).

* Brad Marchand scored his eighth career goal in the Stanley Cup Final, tied for the most among active players (with Corey Perry, Evgeni Malkin and Ondrej Palat).

* Mattias Ekholm scored the NHL’s 30th tying goal in the third period of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the most at this stage of a postseason since 2013 (31 in 81 GP).

* Stuart Skinner made 29 saves, including six in overtime when he denied each of the first three shots by either club in the extra frame (all in the opening two minutes) to give Edmonton its first series lead in the Final since they last lifted the Cup in 1990. On Media Day, Skinner spoke about the resiliency the team has shown – “It’s kind of the story of the Oilers; you get knocked down, you just keep on getting right back up.” – and channeled that to hand the Panthers their first playoff loss under head coach Paul Maurice when leading after either the first or second period (FLA entered 31-0 in those contests since 2023).

VIDEOS FROM GAME 1

* Five-minute recap of Game 1
* First-ever OT goal on NHL in ASL

* Stanley Cup Live Presented by GEICO – Game 1

* Stanley Cup Final Promo: “Heavy Is The Crown” by Linkin Park

HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER RAISES $8.2 MILLION, WILL HONOR STELTER IN NEW PROJECTS

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly held their annual Stanley Cup Final media availability ahead of Game 1, and were joined off the top by National Hockey League Players’ Association Executive Director Marty Walsh and V Foundation CEO Shane Jacobson to announce fundraising updates (detailed below). Click here to watch.

* During the media availability before Game 1, Commissioner Bettman announced that $8.2 million was raised for Hockey Fights Cancer during the 2024-25 season, doubling last year’s fundraising total. That includes over $4.6 million that will go directly to life-saving cancer research through the V Foundation. Additionally, $2.4 million was raised by clubs for local cancer organizations and partners, while more than $1.1 million was raised for the American Cancer Society and Canadian Cancer Society through HFC Assist. Click here for details on the record-breaking season.

* In honor of Ben Stelter – a courageous six-year-old Oilers superfan who inspired the hockey world during his battle with glioblastoma – the NHL, NHLPA, and the V Foundation announced Wednesday that Hockey Fights Cancer will support two additional pediatric cancer research and adult glioblastoma research projects in conjunction with the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. The initiative celebrates Ben’s legacy and the resilience of all those in the hockey community affected by cancer. Since the V Foundation became the official fundraising partner in North America just two years ago, Hockey Fights Cancer has supported 25 research grants to date, with additional grants to be awarded from this season’s record fundraising. Click here to read more on NHL.com.

KUCHEROV VOTED ‘MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER’ FOR SECOND TIME

Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov received the players’ vote for the 2024-25 Ted Lindsay Award, the second time he has claimed the honor as “the most outstanding player in the NHL” (also 2018-19). This was the third time Kucherov was a TLA finalist, with each coming in a season in which he won the Art Ross Trophy as the top scorer during the regular season (2024-25, 2023-24 & 2018-19). Click here for more information and here to watch his Lightning teammates surprise him with the trophy at the club’s practice facility.