June 17, 2025 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers needed to beat the Florida Panthers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, but it wasn’t meant to be for the Oilers in 2025. Sam Reinhart scored four goals including his second consecutive Stanley Cup winning goal en route to a 5-1 win that secured back to back championships for the Panthers.

Callouts

Mattias Ekholm was too slow to move the puck prior to the game’s opening goal, and he ended up firing a pass at Evan Bouchard’s waist. Bouchard wasn’t able to corral the errant pass, and the Panthers went the other way and scored. The Oilers really needed to score first in Game 6 as they had been outscored 7-0 in the first period of the previous three games, and poor puck management from Ekholm allowed the Panthers to break the ice.

If the Oilers really needed to score the first goal, then not being down 2-0 after one period was vital. Leon Draisaitl even said that “…I think playing with a lead and just getting off to a better start in general, not being down 2-0 after the first period will go a long way” before Game 6. Well, he looked absolutely lost on the 2-0 goal with under a minute left in the first period. Draisaitl came back to support the defence on the rush, but drifted a little too deep into the defensive zone. Matthew Tkachuk trailed the play and found a soft spot in the defence. That is who Draisaitl should’ve been marking, and he should’ve been protecting the area high in the zone.

Standouts

Aside from the mistake on the goal against, Draisaitl played fairly well. I thought he was the most determined Oiler in the first period, and he was creating chances for his teammates. Connor McDavid and Corey Perry were the other two most dangerous Oilers forwards, as they were all through the playoffs.

Shoutouts

Vasily Podkolzin scored the only goal of the game for the Oilers, and he led all Oilers forwards in shots with three.

Jake Walman led the Oilers with five shots on goal and four blocked shots.

It’s a short Shoutouts section this time because there really aren’t many positive things to say about that game from an Oilers perspective.

Wrap

It’s a night where you just have to tip your cap to the opponent because they were the better team. What a performance by Reinhart. I realize he had two empty net goals, but four goals in a Stanley Cup clinching game is quite the accomplishment. The Panthers simply suffocated the Oilers with their forecheck and neutral zone play. If the Oilers did get possession in the Panthers zone, the Panthers shut things down. The Oilers were clearly the second best team in Game 6, which is extremely disappointing given the situation.