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Stanley Cup Finals: Panthers push Oilers to the brink after dominating Game 5 win

Florida Panthers players celebrate Eetu Luostarinen's empty net goal vs. Edmonton Oilers in Game 5 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Finals
Florida Panthers players celebrate Eetu Luostarinen's empty net goal vs. Edmonton Oilers in Game 5 of the 2025 Stanley Cup FinalsLeila Devlin/Getty Images/AFP
The Florida Panthers are now just one win away from winning back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals after taking down the Edmonton Oilers in Game 5 on Saturday night to take a 3-2 series lead.

After defeating Edmonton 5-2 in Game 5, the Panthers have now scored at least four goals in the past four games of this series. 

Even though Edmonton outshot Florida, the game was never within the Oilers' grasp as the Panthers dominated on the road. 

So let's get into the recap of a Game 5 that saw the fewest penalties all series!

1st Period

It took almost 10 minutes for the first goal to be put up on the board - and who other than Brad Marchand to get things started for the Panthers in Game 5. 

The goal marked Marchand's ninth of the playoffs and fifth of the Stanley Cup Finals.

The second goal of the game came from the playoffs' goals leader, Sam Bennett, as he put up his 15th with just under two minutes left in the period. 

Florida would head into the first intermission shutting down the Oilers completely, holding them to just three shots on goal. 

Edmonton failed on their lone power play of the period while Florida had their first roll over into the second.

The two penalties during the first period of Game 5 between the Oilers and Panthers were the fewest of the series.

2nd Period

After starting the second with 17 seconds left on their second power play, the Panthers failed on yet another chance.

Edmonton mirrored Florida's power play failures after they had two opportunities in the period to tie it up themselves but couldn't capitalise. 

The Oilers came back in the second period, firing on all cylinders, outshooting the Panthers 7-1 within the first 10 minutes yet remained scoreless.

Edmonton put one shot on goal during the second half of the period while Leon Draisaitl received a high-stick minor penalty with just 20 seconds left before the intermission, leaving Florida to start yet another period on the man advantage.

Going into the third, Florida had outshot (13-11) and outhit (19-15) Edmonton. 

3rd Period

Florida started the third with 1:40 on their third power play of the night, which ended in yet another failed attempt. 

But Marchand's dominance continued after scoring his second goal of the game and his sixth of the series to put the Panthers up 3-0 which sent the Edmonton crowd into a stunned silence. 

Then, two minutes later, Oilers star forward Connor McDavid finally got his team on the board with a goal of his to cut the lead back to two. 

The goal marked McDavid's seventh of the playoffs and first of the Stanley Cup Finals. It is also his 150th playoff career point, making him the third fastest in NHL history - behind Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. 

However, Panthers' Sam Reinhart went top shelf on the short side that quieted down the Oilers crowd just seconds later to go up 4-1. 

Reinhart has now scored in three straight games and joins McDavid in earning his seventh of the playoffs.

Edmonton went with an empty net with five minutes remaining in the game, which eventually led to a goal from Corey Perry with over three minutes remaining to cut the lead back to two again. 

The re-direct from Perry marked his 10th goal of the playoffs and Draisaitl's 22nd assist. 

Unfortunately for the Edmonton faithful, any hopes of a comeback got put to rest after Eetu Luostarinen sent one down the ice for an empty net goal to put the Panthers up 5-2. 

Despite outshooting the Panthers 21-19 in the end, the Oilers couldn't get the job done after going 0-3 on the power play. Now on the brink of losing their second straight Stanley Cup Finals to Florida. 

Game 6 between the Oilers and Panthers will take place in Florida on Tuesday, June 17th.