Streak, skid take back seat as Oilers, Panthers face off in Stanley Cup rematch

The Edmonton Oilers react after losing Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup finals to the Florida Panthers on June 24, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

Yes, the Edmonton Oilers are on a winning streak. Yes, the Florida Panthers have been shut out their last two games.

But all bets are off for Monday night's game between the two National Hockey League powers.

That's what Stanley Cup rematches are like, Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk told media this morning before last year's finalists face off at Rogers Place.

Tkachuk, well known to the Oilers as a Calgary Flames lynchpin – lynch'pain' isn't a word, but maybe it should be – before he took his talents to Florida two seasons ago, said the first experience a year ago for Panthers players playing the Vegas Golden Knights after losing the 2023 Cup final was instantly intense.

"I was pretty angry playing against Vegas the first time last year," said Tkachuk, who's second in Panthers scoring behind Sam Reinhart with 10 goals and 30 points.

"There's nothing you can do about the year before, obviously, but you want them to know they took away your dream, basically. I remember that was a very hard-fought game."

That game last December ended in a 4-2 Panthers victory.

Tkachuk expects Monday's game between the 2024 Cup finalists that took the series to the seven-game limit and a Florida championship victory will be equally as fierce, "a very, very, very intense game with a lot of physicality."

"I mean, they've got a lot of speed and skill, but I'm sure this one's going to be a pretty intense one," he said.

While the two sides play in opposite conferences and face each other just twice in the regular season, Oilers star Connor McDavid said a discord exists because of how June's final played out.

"I think when you play a team ... however many months ago, seven times in a row, you know you're going to form a rivalry," said McDavid, who was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL's most-valuable player in the playoffs.

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, too, expects a game that will be a lot different for his team – losers of a 3-0 game Saturday against the host Calgary Flames and a 2-0 game two nights before to the Canucks in Vancouver – and the opponent that's won eight of their last nine games because of how things went down when Florida took the hockey grail almost six months ago.

"These games aren't the same as the others, I don't think," Maurice said.

"We'll talk about the fact we don't like our last two games. They'll talk about (how) they're playing great right now, but these games are different. The intensity level in any team that we've played in the playoffs the last two years has just been higher for both teams."

The big test for the Panthers on Monday, Maurice said, will be how they handle the Oilers' speed.

"They are the No. 1 entry team in the league, the No. 1 (in) zone time, and most of that's the chaos caused off entry or some pretty nifty puck movers and puck-control (players)," he said.

"If we play our game, we're not shutting down – it was a seven-game (Stanley Cup) series, not a four game series, right? – you're not closing that out, but it's foundational to what we do. Whether we play Edmonton or we play anybody, we have to play a much better gap game. You can't complain just because you lose."

'Get to the net'

Oilers forward Zach Hyman said his approach to playing the Panthers is informed by that down-to-the-wire series that saw Edmonton fall short by a goal in a 2-1 Game 7 loss in Sunrise, Fla., in late June: finding ways to beat man-on-man coverage and get to the net.

"We're obviously very familiar with how they play, so you just have to go to those areas," Hyman said.

"When there's a box out, it's a one-on-one battle, it's who wants to get to the net, who wants to box the other guy out. You don't just get boxed out, you've got to work around it and find a way to get to the net.

"Of late, we're doing a good job of shooting from the point, getting guys to the front and scoring tips or second chances. That's important to do against a team like this."

Projected Oilers lineup

Forward

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins • Connor McDavid • Zach Hyman

Vasily Podkolzin • Leon Draisaitl • Kasperi Kapanen

Jeff Skinner • Adam Henrique • Mattias Janmark

Corey Perry • Derek Ryan • Connor Brown

Defence

Mattias Ekholm • Evan Bouchard

Darnell Nurse • Troy Stecher

Brett Kulak • Josh Brown

Goal

Stuart Skinner • Calvin Pickard