2025 Stanley Cup Final
The 2025 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's 2024–25 season and the culmination of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. In a rematch of the previous year's Final, the Eastern Conference and defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers defeated the Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers four games to two in the best-of-seven series, earning their second consecutive championship, as well as the second title in team history.
The series began on June 4 and concluded on June 17. Edmonton had home ice advantage in the series due to having the better regular season record. This was the sixth consecutive Final to feature a team from Florida. This was the first time since that the Final featured a rematch of the previous season. It was also the first time since that neither finalist had home-ice advantage in the first three rounds.
Paths to the Final
Edmonton Oilers
This was Edmonton's second consecutive and ninth overall Final appearance. They have won the Stanley Cup five times, each between and during their dynasty years. Their most recent Stanley Cup win came in 1990 when they defeated the Boston Bruins in five games.Shortly after the 2024 Final, with his contract expiring, general manager Ken Holland departed the team ; CEO Jeff Jackson took over interim GM duties until the team hired former Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman. In free agency, the Oilers acquired forwards Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson along with defencemen Connor Carrick and Josh Brown. They also re-signed forwards Connor Brown, Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Corey Perry, and Leon Draisaitl, as well as defenceman Troy Stecher, while losing Warren Foegele in free agency to the Los Angeles Kings, as well as Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to an offer sheet from the St. Louis Blues. Approaching the trade deadline, the team acquired forward Kasperi Kapanen off of waivers, signed defenseman John Klingberg, and also completed a three-way trade with the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils to acquire forwards Trent Frederic and Max Jones. On the day of the trade deadline, the team traded for San Jose Sharks defenseman Jake Walman.
Draisaitl led the team in scoring with 52 goals and 106 points, tying for third in the league in the latter. Perry was making his fifth Final appearance in six seasons and sixth appearance overall, previously winning with the Anaheim Ducks in and losing with the Dallas Stars in, Montreal Canadiens in, Tampa Bay Lightning in, and the Oilers the previous season.
Edmonton finished third place in the Pacific Division during the regular season with a record. In the first round, they defeated their intra-division rival, the Los Angeles Kings, in six games, eliminating them for the fourth consecutive season. They then defeated the division champion Vegas Golden Knights in five games during the second round. In the Western Conference final, they triumphed over the Dallas Stars for the second consecutive season, winning in five games.
Florida Panthers
This was Florida's third consecutive and fourth overall Final appearance. They have won one Stanley Cup, doing so the previous season against the Oilers in seven games after giving up a 3–0 series lead.During the offseason, in free agency, the Panthers acquired forwards Jesper Boqvist, A. J. Greer, and Tomas Nosek, as well as defenceman Nate Schmidt. They also re-signed forwards Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell, and Carter Verhaeghe, along with defenceman Dmitry Kulikov. Nearing the trade deadline, the team acquired defenceman Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks, as well as goaltender Vitek Vanecek and forward Nico Sturm from the San Jose Sharks in separate transactions. On the day of the trade deadline, the team traded for Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand.
Reinhart led the team in scoring with 81 points. Team captain Aleksander Barkov won his third Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward.
Florida finished third place in the Atlantic Division during the regular season with a record. In the first round, they defeated their intra-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in five games. They then defeated the division champion Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games during the second round, despite initially trailing 2–0 and 3–2 in the series. In the Eastern Conference final, they eliminated the Carolina Hurricanes for the second time in three seasons, winning in five games.
Game summaries
Game one
In the first period of game one, Leon Draisaitl began the scoring for the Oilers as Jake Walman's shot was stopped by Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and Kasperi Kapanen's shot attempts were deflected to Draisaitl who made it 1–0. The Panthers tied the game when Carter Verhaeghe's shot was deflected in front of the net by Sam Bennett. The Oilers tried to challenge the goal on goaltender interference, but they were unsuccessful. In the ensuing power play for the Panthers, Brad Marchand scored to give Florida a 2–1 lead. In the second period, Bennett extended the lead for the Panthers, accepting a pass from Nate Schmidt and snapping the shot past Stuart Skinner. Viktor Arvidsson then scored for Edmonton, firing a slap shot past Bobrovsky to cut Florida's lead to one goal. The Oilers tied the game in the third period as Mattias Ekholm, who had been injured for most of the playoffs returning late in the previous series against Dallas, scored after receiving a pass from Connor McDavid. With the score tied going into overtime, Panthers forward Tomas Nosek was penalized for shooting the puck over the glass. On the ensuing power play, Corey Perry passed to McDavid setting up Draisaitl's goal for Edmonton's 4–3 victory.Game two
Early in the first period, Evander Kane was penalized for high-sticking Carter Verhaeghe. On the ensuing power play, Sam Bennett scored, taking a pass from Nate Schmidt and Evan Rodrigues. Kane would tie the game 1–1 for Edmonton, firing a snap shot past Sergei Bobrovsky. Defenceman Evan Bouchard would give the Oilers a 2–1 lead as his initial shot was blocked, but his second shot went into the net. The Panthers tied the game as Eetu Luostarinen passed to an open Seth Jones snapping a shot past goaltender Stuart Skinner. The Oilers regained the lead as Connor McDavid skated the puck through a Panther defenceman and passed to Leon Draisaitl who scored to make it 3–2. In the second period, Dmitry Kulikov then evened the score for the Panthers, snapping a shot through traffic to make it 3–3. The Panthers were able to make it 4–3 when Brad Marchand scored a shorthanded breakaway goal. In the final minutes of the third period, the Oilers pulled their goaltender and with 18 seconds remaining, Corey Perry scored to send the game to overtime. In double-overtime, Marchand scored his second of the game in another breakaway, evening the series 1–1.Game three
Game three began as game two ended with Brad Marchand scoring 56 seconds into the first period. The Panthers made it 2–0 on the power play as Evan Rodrigues made the pass to Carter Verhaeghe who wristed it past Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner. In the second period, a shot by Evan Bouchard was deflected by Sergei Bobrovsky to Corey Perry who cut the goal deficit for the Oilers to 2–1. Forward Sam Reinhart restored the two-goal lead for Florida, taking the pass from Verhaeghe. The Panthers then made it 4–1 when a two-on-zero rush allowed Sam Bennett to breakaway a wrist a shot past Skinner. In the third period, Skinner attempted to clear the puck but did so over the glass giving Florida a power play. On the ensuing power play, Matthew Tkachuk made a pass to Reinhart who backhand-passed to Aaron Ekblad to make it 5–1. Skinner was pulled after this goal. Midway through the period, the Panthers and Oilers had some fights. By the end of the game, the Oilers accumulated 85 penalty minutes, the most for one team in a Stanley Cup Final game since game four of the 1986 Stanley Cup Final. Rodrigues would get the sixth goal for the Panthers, scoring on a two-man advantage.Game four
The Oilers came back from a three-goal deficit in game four to emerge victorious in overtime. In the first period, with both Evander Kane and Darnell Nurse in the penalty box for separate infractions, Florida captain Aleksander Barkov off the faceoff passed to Matthew Tkachuk whose snap shot beat Stuart Skinner to make it 1–0. Tkachuk made it 2–0 on another power play, picking up a rebound from Sam Reinhart's shot on Skinner. Towards the end of the first period, Carter Verhaeghe picked up a loose puck in the offensive zone sending it back to Anton Lundell who fired a wrist shot past Skinner. In the second period, the Oilers got on the power play and with Leon Draisaitl's pass to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Edmonton scored to cut the deficit to two goals. Midway through the second, in the Panthers defensive zone, Mattias Ekholm passed to Darnell Nurse whose shot at a tight angle got past Sergei Bobrovsky to cut the deficit to one goal. The Oilers tied it when Vasily Podkolzin backhand shot the puck past Bobrovsky. In the third period, after the Panthers turned over the puck, Kasperi Kapanen passed to Jake Walman who scored to make it 4–3 for Edmonton. With under a minute left in the third period, the Panthers pulled Bobrovsky for an extra skater. With 20 seconds remaining, Reinhart scored for Florida to send it to overtime. In overtime, Draisatl while holding off a Florida defenceman, made a backhand shot that went between Bobrovsky. He scored his fourth overtime goal of the playoffs, setting the record for most overtime goals scored in one season. He also became the first player since John LeClair in to score two overtime goals in the same year in the Final. It was the seventh time a team came back from a three-goal deficit in the Final and the first since.Game five
In the first period of game five, Brad Marchand, after taking a pass from Anton Lundell, sped through the offensive zone and fired a snap shot past Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard. Sam Bennett made it 2–0 for Florida, acquiring the puck on a rebound and shooting it past Pickard. In the second period, Marchand, after taking the pass from Eetu Luostarinen, moved the puck between Oilers defenceman Jake Walman to score on Pickard. Edmonton captain Connor McDavid cut the deficit to two goals, scoring a wrist shot on Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 3–1. Less than a minute later, the Panthers answered back as Sam Reinhart made it 4–1 taking the assist from Aleksander Barkov. The Oilers pulled their goaltender with less than four minutes left in the game. With the extra attacker, Corey Perry fired a slap shot that went past Bobrovsky, giving Edmonton their second goal of the game. The Oilers pulled their goaltender again, but with the empty net, Luostarinen scored to give Florida a 5–2 lead, en route to a 3–2 series lead.Game six
In game six, the Panthers began the scoring with Sam Reinhart picking up a defensive turnover by Evan Bouchard and snapping the puck past Stuart Skinner. Florida doubled the lead as Eetu Luostarinen made a pass to Matthew Tkachuk whose wrist shot beat Skinner. In the second period, captain Aleksander Barkov assisted in making it 3–0 for the Panthers as he gathered a rebound off of Skinner's right shoulder and fed Reinhart who was standing near the crease. The puck ultimately deflected off Reinhart's skate and past Skinner to extend the lead. As the end of the game approached, the Oilers pulled their goaltender with less than seven minutes left. However, the Panthers recovered the puck and Reinhart shot into the empty net, scoring a hat trick. He would get his fourth goal of the match, hitting another empty net goal with just over five minutes remaining. Reinhart became the first player since Babe Dye in and the second player overall in league history to score four goals in a series-clinching game in the Stanley Cup Final. Reinhart also became the first player to score four goals in a Final game since Maurice Richard in. Edmonton would break the shutout as Vasily Podkolzin scored to make it 5–1. The Panthers defended their lead as Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves throughout the game, helping Florida earn their second Stanley Cup. Florida became the first team to defeat the same opponent in consecutive Final since the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Boston Bruins in. In addition, they are the third team to win the Stanley Cup without having home ice advantage in any round of the playoffs after the 1994–95 New Jersey Devils and the 2011–12 Los Angeles Kings.Sam Bennett was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs.
Team rosters
Years indicated in boldface under the "Final appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.Florida Panthers
| # | Nat | Player | Position | Hand | Age | Acquired | Place of birth | Final appearance | ||||
| 26 |  sortname|Uvis|BalinskisEdmonton Oilers
|
sortname|Viktor|Arvidsson