With the sides meeting in the Stanley Cup for the second straight year, we were always promised a fascinating encounter. Game 1 in Edmonton did not disappoint. It took the Oilers just 66 seconds to jump out in front, as Leon Draisaitl was the final player to get his stick in a scramble near the goal. The initial shot from Jake Walman was saved by Sergei Bobrovsky
It took until midway through the opening frame for the Panthers to get on the board. Matthew Tkachuk slipped in Connor Verhaeghe, whose shot deflected off Sam Bennett and past Stuart Skinner to tie the score. It was decided that Bennett did not cause goaltender interference, allowing the goal to stand.
A little less than two minutes later, and Florida found themselves in front. On the power play due to a delay of game by the Oilers, Nate Schmidt played a cross-ice pass to Brad Marchand, who fired his attempt to the opposite side of the net to put his team ahead for the first time.
That capped the scoring for the opening period, which was lively. Edmonton forced more shots on target (14-7), but were behind going into intermission.
Things got worse for the home side two minutes after the break. On a fastbreak, Schmidt once again played provider, picking out Bennett while being chased by multiple Oilers players. Once again, the second line centre made no mistake in beating Skinner.
The response from the Oilers was quite swift. Vasli Podkolzin brought the puck across the blue line before leaving it for Viktor Arvidsson. The Swede was afforded enough time to line up a shot, where he fired it home to halve the deficit.
No more scoring would occur in the second period, as the hosts tried their hardest to restore parity. Florida had the better of the chances though, doubling the shots on target 17-8 this time around. Still, it was Edmonton chasing the game.
It took six and a half minutes into the third period for the Oilers to tie things up. Connor McDavid completed a give-and-go with Kasperi Kapanen before dishing a pass out that reached Mattias Ekholm. who snuck it past Bobrovsky to level thngs at three.
The momentum was fully with the home team, as the fans got behind their backs after their third goal. It was one-way traffic, with the Panthers having just two shots on target in the frame, in comparison to the Oilers' 14. Overtime would be needed to settle the first game of the series.
With 30 seconds left in the opening overtime period, the Oilers found a game winner. After Tomas Nosek was sent to the penalty bench for delay of game, the hosts pounced on the man advantage. A lovely passage of play had Corey Perry slip in McDavid, who found an open Draisaitl to put it past Bobrovsky and end the game.
Game 2 of the series, which will also take place in the Albertan capital, will go on Friday. That could be the Oilers' chance to go up 2-0 in this series.
See all of the match stats from Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Flashscore.