For the second straight year, the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers will battle it out in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Oilers secured their spot in the fourth and final round of the playoffs on Thursday with a 5–3 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 5.

Captain Connor McDavid delivered the game-winning blow with Edmonton’s fourth goal in the second period, as his team consistently found ways to counter pushback from Dallas.

It marked the second consecutive year the Oilers have eliminated the Stars in the Western Conference Final, having done so in six games in 2024.

The Oilers will host Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the defending champs on Wednesday, June 5. And as a reminder, the Western Conference champs nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback from down 3-0 in the title series against the Panthers last season before falling in Game 7.

Here’s a look at the reaction on social media to Edmonton’s win — and the upcoming rematch with Florida.

There was also plenty of reaction to the Oilers’ decision to touch the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl after their win — a change from last year, when they opted not to.

After losing the Stanley Cup Final in seven games, it makes sense that Edmonton would switch things up this time around.

Asked by Sportsnet’s Gene Principe how that decision came about, McDavid said: “I don’t know. I didn’t know it was going to happen until I was up there. We didn’t last year — we’ll give it a go this year.”

The Panthers, meanwhile, avoided touching the Prince of Wales Trophy following their Eastern Conference Final win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday. They followed the same approach last year before going on to win the Cup, but in 2023, they touched it — then lost to the Vegas Golden Knights.