The Florida Panthers, led by Evan Rodrigues’ two goals, defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 and took a 2-0 lead in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers claimed their seventh comeback win of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, equaling their most in a single postseason (also 7 in 2023).
Mattias Ekholm opened the scoring for the Oilers in a 4-on-4 situation after Warren Foegele was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct after knee-on-leg contact with Eetu Luostarinen. Connor McDavid got an assist on the goal and notched his 27th of the postseason to tie Nikita Kucherov (27 in 2020) for the most in a playoff year by an active player. Only Wayne Gretzky (3x; most: 31 in 1988) and Mario Lemieux (28 in 1991) have had more.
With his assist on the opening goal, McDavid now has 17 points in games following a loss this postseason, which tie Rick Middleton in 1983 (4 goals-13 assists—17 points in 7 GP) for the second most in one playoff year in NHL history, only behind Doug Gilmour in 1993 (4-16—20 in 9 GP).
In the second period, Niko Mikkolat tied the game with a goal before the Panthers took the lead early in the third period on an Rodrigues goal.
Rodrigues scored again to give the Panthers a two-goal lead with just over seven minutes left in the third period. He became the first player in Panthers history with a multi-goal game in the Stanley Cup Final. He has three goals in the Final, equaling his total through the first three rounds this year (17 GP).
Florida’s third goal of the night was the first power-play goal against the Oilers in nearly a month, halting their stretch of successful penalty kills at 34.
Aaron Ekblad got an empty net goal to give the Panthers their three-goal margin of victory.
News and Notes
Each of the past 24 Stanley Cup Final series, from 1999 to 2023, required five or more games (18 of 24 series in that span required six games or more).
The first two Florida goals tonight were scored by players in their first season with the Panthers. Mikkola and Rodrigues were both free-agent signings last July. Rodrigues has a goal in each of his first two career games in the Final. Florida’s third goal of the night was the first power-play goal against the Oilers in nearly a month, halting their stretch of successful penalty kills at 34.
The past three Final series have been 2-0 after Game 2. Before that, there were three in a row tied 1-1. The 2020 Tampa Bay Lightning were the last to claim Game 2 to even the Final, and the 2019 St. Louis Blues were the last to do so on the road.
