NHL

Edmonton Oilers at Florida Panthers

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Schmidt and Verhaeghe score in the 3rd, Panthers top Oilers 4-3 in Cup final rematch

Carter Verhaeghe nets goal for Panthers

Uvis Balinskis also scored for Florida, which jumped Toronto for first in the Atlantic Division.

Leon Draisaitl scored his 44th goal for the Oilers, who also got goals from Brett Kulak and Zach Hyman.

It was Edmonton's first time on the Panthers' ice since June 24, when Florida topped the Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers won the clubs' first meeting earlier this season, prevailing 6-5 at Edmonton on Dec. 16.

Both teams had 12 players on the ice Thursday from the lineups that they used in Game 7 of the title series.

Takeaways Oilers: Edmonton has dropped five straight, the Oilers' longest slide since dropping six consecutive games in December 2021. The Oilers have allowed at least four goals in all five of the losses during the stretch.

Panthers: Florida was again without Matthew Tkachuk because of a lower-body injury sustained during the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. “He's out near-term, we know that. We're just making sure that we get ... different ideas on treatment plans,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.

Key moment Hyman got the Oilers within 4-3 with 3:35 left, but Edmonton took two penalties in the next 3:21 to hurt the rally bid.

Key stat Draisaitl's goal was his 316th over the last seven seasons, breaking a tie with Toronto's Auston Matthews for the most in that span. Matthews and the Leafs play Friday at the New York Rangers.

Up next Edmonton finishes a five-game trip Saturday at Carolina, while Florida remains home to face Calgary on Saturday. It'll be the first game back in Sunrise for Flames forward Ryan Lomberg since he helped Florida win the Cup last season.

Regular Season Series

FLA wins series 2-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 12:28 Uvis Balinskis Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Anton Lundell (25)
Goal 1st Period 14:41 Brett Kulak Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Vasily Podkolzin (15), John Klingberg (2)
Goal 2nd Period 15:30 Anton Lundell Goal (14) Tip-In, assists: Aaron Ekblad (25)
Goal 2nd Period 17:30 Leon Draisaitl Goal (44) Wrist Shot, assists: John Klingberg (3)
Goal 3rd Period 11:08 Nate Schmidt Goal (5) Snap Shot, assists: A.J. Greer (9), Anton Lundell (26)
Goal 3rd Period 13:51 Carter Verhaeghe Goal (16) Wrist Shot, assists: Sam Reinhart (33), Aaron Ekblad (26)
Goal 3rd Period 16:35 Zach Hyman Goal (20) Wrist Shot, assists: Connor McDavid (52), Mattias Ekholm (18)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/edm.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originEDM https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/fla.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originFLA
21 Blocked Shots 17
15 Hits 26
3 Takeaways 5
27 Shots 36
0 Power Play Goals 0
2 Power Play Opportunities 6
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
30 Faceoffs Won 36
45.5 Faceoff Win Percent 54.5
10 Giveaways 11
7 Total Penalties 3
17 Penalty Minutes 9
Florida Panthers Florida Panthers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Niko Mikkola, D Injured Reserve Mar 23
Mackie Samoskevich, RW Out Mar 23
Uvis Balinskis, D Out Mar 23
A.J. Greer, LW Suspension Mar 22
Anton Lundell, C Day-To-Day Mar 21
Edmonton Oilers Edmonton Oilers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Trent Frederic, C Out Mar 20
Leon Draisaitl, C Injured Reserve Mar 19
Colton Dach, C Injured Reserve Mar 13
Mattias Janmark, C Injured Reserve Mar 6
Curtis Lazar, C Injured Reserve Mar 4

Game Information

Amerant Bank Arena

Location: Sunrise, FL
Attendance: 19,456 | Capacity:

2025-26 Pacific Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Anaheim 39 27 82 4
Vegas 32 25 78 14
Edmonton 34 28 77 9
Los Angeles 28 25 73 17
Seattle 31 29 71 9
San Jose 32 30 70 6
Calgary 29 34 65 7
Vancouver 21 40 50 8

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Buffalo 44 20 95 7
Tampa Bay 43 21 91 5
Montreal 38 21 86 10
Boston 39 23 86 8
Detroit 38 24 84 8
Ottawa 37 24 83 9
Florida 34 32 71 3
Toronto 29 29 71 13
Full Standings