The 2025 Stanley Cup Final comes with a healthy dose of deja vu. The same two teams, the same goaltenders and the same future Hall-of-Fame superstars.

Twelve months after the Florida Panthers clinched the first championship in franchise history by defeating the Oilers in seven games, both teams are once again the last ones standing. It’s just the fifth time since 1968 that the Stanley Cup Final will be a rematch, and it’s the first rematch since the Red Wings and Penguins faced off twice in 2008 and ’09.

The 2024 Final was a roller coaster of emotions as the Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 lead and the Oilers fought all the way back to force a Game 7 before Florida finally sealed the deal. If this year’s rematch comes anywhere close to the drama of last year, hockey fans are in for a special treat.

Before the puck drops on Panthers vs. Oilers, Part 2, let’s look back on all the best moments and highlights from the first clash between these two now rivals.

Game 1: Panthers 3, Oilers 0

What happened: The Oilers dominated the play in Game 1 but the experienced Panthers didn’t bend. And then, with the chances they did get, the Panthers didn’t miss.

Carter Verhaeghe got the Panthers on the board first with a goal on a three-on-two. Evan Rodrigues doubled the lead early in the second when the Oilers’ defencemen lost him in the slot on a dump-in play. And Eetu Luostarinen capped the scoring with an empty-net goal.

Key moment: Sergei Bobrovsky was the star of the game as the Oilers heavily tilted the ice but couldn’t solve the Panthers’ goalie. Edmonton outshot Florida 32-17 and tripled them in high-danger scoring chances at 18-6, but Bobrovsky stopped every single one.

His best sequence came late in the first period when Adam Henrique and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins skated in on breakaways, but Bobrovsky’s outstretched left pad stopped them both.

What the players said: “Best goalie in the world, in my opinion.” Anton Lundell after Bobrovsky shut out the Oilers.

Game 2: Panthers 4, Oilers 1

What happened: Mattias Ekholm scored the Oilers’ first goal of the series in the first period on a shot that just barely squeaked through Sergei Bobrovsky’s pad. But it would be the only goal Edmonton scored on this trip to South Florida. Niko Mikkola tied the game in the second before two goals from Evan Rodrigues in the third period put the Panthers up for good. Aaron Ekblad iced the game with an empty net goal as the Panthers outshot the Oilers 28-19.

Key moment: With the game tied 1-1 in the third, two Oilers stars made costly mistakes that the Panthers capitalized on. First, Evan Bouchard made a weak clearing attempt in the defensive zone that landed right on Rodrigues’s stick. Rodrigues wasted no time firing the puck past Stuart Skinner to score what would prove to be the game winner. Then, later in the period, Leon Draisaitl ran over Aleksander Barkov with a high hit that led to a roughing penalty. Rodrigues scored again on that man-advantage.

But the moment everyone will remember from this game didn’t become public until months later, when the first season of the documentary series FACEOFF: Inside the NHL debuted on Prime Video. With his team down 2-0 and having only scored one goal so far in the series, Connor McDavid went on an expletive-filled rant in the locker room, deploring his teammates to play better “right f—ing now!”

McDavid would turn that passion into results as the series went along.

What the players said: “We’ve got to get better. We can do better, for sure. I thought they went up a level and we didn’t match it today.” McDavid after going down 2-0 to the Panthers in the series.

Game 3: Panthers 4, Oilers 3

What happened: If the Oilers were hoping to get some momentum from the home crowd in Game 3, that was quickly put to rest when Sam Reinhart opened the scoring with just over a minute to go in the first period. Warren Foegele tied things up less than two minutes into the second, but the game didn’t stay tied for long as the Panthers grabbed a 4-1 lead by the end of the middle frame. The Oilers scored twice in the third (both assisted on by McDavid) to cut the lead down to one, but that was as close as they got. Bobrovsky made 32 saves in the win while Skinner stopped 19 shots.

Key moment: The game was decided by one six-minute stretch in the middle of the second period when the Panthers scored three times to grab the lead for good. First, Vladimir Tarasenko buried a goal from the slot after Skinner misplayed a dump-in behind the net. Next, Matthew Tkachuk pounced on a turnover near the Oilers’ net and fed the puck to Sam Bennett for a quick-strike goal. Then, finally, Aleksander Barkov scored what proved to be the game winner after Evan Rodrigues fed him the puck on a two-on-one.

The Oilers got goals from Philip Broberg and Ryan McLeod in the third but couldn’t find one more to force overtime.

What the players said: “You just either have it or you don’t. And we’ve got 23 dawgs on our team that have that will.” Bennett on being up 3-0 in the series.

Game 4: Oilers 8, Panthers 1

What happened: The Oilers finally found their offence with their backs against the wall, scoring eight times in Game 4, double their output from the first three games. The scoring started early when Mattias Janmark buried a shorthanded goal three minutes into the game. Adam Henrique doubled that lead shortly after, but Vladimir Tarasenko made it a one-goal game with his second goal of the series. 

Then the Oilers really took over. Dylan Holloway restored the two-goal lead before the first period was over, and Connor McDavid extended it to 4-1 on a breakaway just over a minute into the second. Darnell Nurse scored next, putting the Oilers up 5-1 and chasing Sergei Bobrovsky from the game. Anthony Stolarz came in and he surrendered three more goals, to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Holloway and Ryan McLeod, to close things out. 

McDavid led the way with four points in the game while Holloway had three, including two goals. All but three Oilers failed to get on the scoresheet while Skinner made 32 saves, his most in the series.

Key moment: The Oilers’ offence had been very quiet in the first three games of the series. McDavid had three assists, but Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins had all failed to record a point before Game 4. All three struggling stars finally got on the score sheet in this game, with Draisaitl and Hyman each collecting two assists and Nugent-Hopkins scoring a goal.

Hyman’s assists came early in the second period on the two goals that led to Bobrovsky being pulled. On both goals, Hyman found McDavid in the middle of the ice, and the Oilers captain used his speed to back the defence up, scoring the fourth goal of the game himself and setting up Nurse for the fifth.

What the players said: “It’s just one win. It doesn’t matter if you score eight or you score one. It’s just one win. Now, you want to go to Florida, do a job, and drag ‘em back to Alberta.” McDavid after the Oilers’ first win of the series.

Game 5: Oilers 5, Panthers 3

What happened: Connor Brown opened the scoring for the Oilers with a shorthanded goal in the first period, and then Connor McDavid took over the game in the second. Less than two minutes into the middle frame, McDavid set up Evan Bouchard on the power play and Bouchard fired one of his signature slap shots off Zach Hyman’s leg and past Sergei Bobrovsky. Then, at the five-minute mark of the second, McDavid beat Bobrovsky from a sharp angle to put the Oilers up 3-0.

Matthew Tkachuk cut the lead down to 3-1 less than two minutes later, but McDavid made sure the Panthers couldn’t build any momentum off that goal. With the Oilers on the power play, McDavid danced around all four Panthers on the ice to set up Corey Perry for a tap-in that proved to be the winner. The Panthers cut the lead to one on goals from Evan Rodrigues and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, but McDavid, with his fourth point of the night, sealed the win with a goal into the empty net.

Key moment: Empty-net goals rarely make the highlight reel, but McDavid’s did in Game 5 because of the amazing effort Tkachuk made to try to prevent it. The play started when Hyman flipped the puck over the Panthers’ defence towards the empty net. Tkachuk and McDavid took off in a foot race after it, and Tkachuk dove headfirst and swung his stick to knock the puck away at the last possible moment. That heroic save was for naught, however, as McDavid beat the other Panthers to the puck and wasted no time firing it past Tkachuk, who was trying to block the net, to secure the victory for Edmonton.

What the players said: “Connor doing Connor things. That’s what makes him special. He’s able to elevate his game at the most important time.” Hyman on McDavid’s second four-point game when facing elimination in the series.

Game 6: Oilers 5, Panthers 1

What happened: Connor McDavid was held off the scoresheet in Game 6 after back-to-back four-point games, but the Oilers still managed to score five times to force a winner-take-all finale. Warren Foegele opened the scoring in the first period, with Leon Draisaitl collecting just his third point of the series with an impressive assist on the play. Adam Henrique and Zach Hyman then scored in the second period to put the Oilers up 3-0 after 40.

Aleksander Barkov broke the ice for the Panthers early in the third, but that would be the only goal they would get. Empty-net goals from Ryan McLeod and Darnell Nurse completed the scoring as the Oilers became the first team since the Detroit Red Wings in 1945 to come back from down 3-0 to force a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final.

Key moment: It was revealed after the series was over that Draisaitl had been playing with rib and hand injuries that impacted his mobility on the ice. But in this game, he showed one flash of his healthy self by setting up Foegele on the opening goal. On the play, Draisaitl corralled a loose puck at centre ice, made a move around Panthers defenceman Gustav Forsling, then feathered a perfect saucer pass to Foegele, who had a wide open net to shoot at.

What the players said: “I really do believe in this group. And I’m sticking to those words. If anyone can do it, it’s the Oil.” Stuart Skinner on the Oilers coming back from down 3-0 to force Game 7.

Game 7: Panthers 2, Oilers 1

What happened: The Panthers opened the scoring for just the third time in the series and the first time since Game 3 when Carter Verhaeghe tipped a puck past Stuart Skinner seconds after the Oilers had killed a penalty. Mattias Janmark tied the game later in the first, and the teams went into the intermission tied 1-1.

Then, with five minutes to go in the second period, Sam Reinhart skated in and wired a shot past Skinner to score what proved to be the Cup-clinching goal. Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves for the win, allowing one or fewer goals for the first time in the series since Game 2.

Connor McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP after scoring 42 points, the most by anyone not named Gretzky or Lemieux in a single post-season run. But McDavid did not come out to accept the trophy in the emotional aftermath of the loss.

Key moment: Reinhart’s goal will be remembered forever as the strike that delivered the Panthers the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The former No. 2 overall pick scored a career-high 57 times in the regular season but had been held relatively in check by the Oilers, scoring only once in the series heading into Game 7. But Reinhart didn’t waste the opportunity he got in the finale, skating into the right circle and firing a perfect shot past Skinner for the biggest goal of his life.

What the players said: “I haven’t had a drink in (expletive) three months. I’ll drink anything at this point.” Reinhart after scoring the game-winner in Game 7.