Marchand's second goal of the night 8:04 into the second OT allowed Florida to escape with a split after Corey Perry scored to tie it with 17.8 seconds left in the third period and Stuart Skinner pulled for an extra attacker. Each of the first two games this final have gone to overtime, for the first time since 2014 and just the sixth in NHL history.
Kulikov’s goal came after Florida controlled play for several minutes in the second, hemming Edmonton in its zone shift after shift and piling up a 34-13 advantage in shot attempts during the period. Marchand’s OT goal was his 10th career goal in the final to lead all active players.
Game 3 is Monday night as the teams traverse the continent and play shifts to Sunrise.
The Panthers wrested home-ice advantage away from the Oilers by splitting the first two, rebounding from a Game 1 overtime loss and asserting they won’t go quietly against Draisaitl and Connor McDavid looking like they’ll do everything in their power to hoist the Cup for the first time.
Of course, those stars had their moments. They assisted on Evan Bouchard’s goal when coach Kris Knoblauch put them on the ice together, and McDavid stickhandled through multiple defenders in highlight-reel fashion to set up Draisaitl scoring on the power play.
There were a lot of those – 10 in total – after officials whistled 14 penalties, including three in the first four minutes. Each team had a few calls it was not happy with, though most of that evened out over the course of the game.
Edmonton, Alberta – Tomas Nosek had been dealing with the guilt of his puck-over-the-glass penalty ever since the Florida Panthers lost Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on the ensuing power-play goal by Leon Draisaitl .
He’s not sure how long it took to get over it.
“It was tough,” Nosek said Friday after an optional morning skate. “You don’t want to be the one guy who costs us the game. But obviously everybody can make a mistake. It happened in a bad time in overtime, and it cost us the game. But it’s in the past, and now we’re looking forward to just keep doing my job.”
Nosek gets to keep doing his job. Coach Paul Maurice said he was not making any lineup changes for Game 2 against the Edmonton Oilers. That means A.J. Greer remains out with an undisclosed injury, though Maurice said the fourth-liner is on track for Game 3 on Monday in Sunrise.
The penalty 18 minutes into overtime came when Edmonton's Jake Walman was pressuring Nosek in Florida's defensive zone. Power plays are rare in OT in the playoffs with officials careful about not wanting to have too big an influence on the outcome, but sending the puck over the glass is an automatic call.
“Everybody’s making mistakes," Nosek said. "I think it’s a part of the game. It’s a sport, and you just focus on the next game and preparing yourself for it like every other game.”
Nosek, one of several newcomers who weren't around last year when the Panthers won the Cup, is in his second final after helping Vegas get there in 2018. He said teammates have been good about encouraging and supporting him since the costly penalty.
"They’ve been really helpful," Nosek said. "The guys came to me and said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ It’s good.”
Linemate Jonah Gadjovich, who reported feeling great after missing some time in Game 1 because of injury, said Nosek shouldn't feel bad about the mistake.
“It happens," Gadjovich said. “Tough bounce, but he does so many good things for us, no one’s mad at him, no one’s anything. It’s just stuff like that happens in a game.”
Connor McDavid made a pass befitting his status as the best hockey player on the planet to set up the Oilers' tying goal in Game 1, with Mattias Ekholm scoring it. Asked Friday whether the pass from behind the net was intended for Ekholm or winger Evander Kane, he was unwilling to share that information.
“I won’t say," McDavid responded. "All that matters is it ended up where it needed to be, and we scored.”
McDavid also assisted on Draisaitl's overtime goal, his playoff-leading 28th point in 17 games during this run.
Florida coach Paul Maurice said earlier this week he roots for three teams when he's watching games around the NHL: Vancouver for Jim Rutherford, Winnipeg because he was there for so long and loves the organization and the market, and Dallas for close friend Peter DeBoer.
The Stars are probably off that list now after firing DeBoer on Friday following a third consecutive loss in the Western Conference final and comments made about the decision to pull franchise goaltender Jake Oettinger in the decisive Game 5 loss.
“He’ll be all right," Maurice said. "He’s a good coach. I think you get elite teams, you’ve got to push them real hard to get to where they get to, and then at some point you need a summer off, pick your spot. He’s going to be OK.”
DeBoer's dismissal opens a job a day after Boston hired Marco Sturm to fill its vacancy, the last one left in the league. On Wednesday, Pittsburgh went with a little bit of a surprise hiring longtime assistant Dan Muse.
Ekholm, who played in Nashville when Muse was on staff there, is interested to see how it goes for a “super serious guy” with a new school approach.
“I think he’s got all the right tools to be a successful coach,” Ekholm said. "It’s different to be an assistant than a head coach, so he’s got some things to prove but good for him to get an opportunity.”
Birmingham's Madison Packer will be a guest analyst on Saturday on NHL Tonight: Stanley Cup Final Edition on the NHL Network at 6 p.m.
Packer, a nine-year professional hockey player and trailblazer in the women's game, will join host Erika Wachter and former Stanley Cup champion Ken Daneyko.
Packer suited up for the New York Sirens as an inaugural member of the PWH, appearing in 23 games for New York before announcing her retirement ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Prior to turning pro, Packer won an NCAA national championship with the University of Wisconsin Badgers, and also won two gold medals as a member of USA's U-18 national team.
As Hilary Knight winds down her international career, the four-time Olympian and long-time face of U.S. women’s hockey is hardly done making inroads in her sport.
Next up for the 35-year-old during a trailblazing career – in which she stood up to USA Hockey in demanding better wages and helped found the PWHL – is introducing the women’s game to a new frontier as part of the league’s expansion into the Pacific Northwest.
“Yeah, I guess it’s sort of how my career’s gone. I’m more of a builder in many ways,” Knight said with a laugh on Friday, two days after becoming the first player agreeing to sign with the PWHL’s new team in Seattle.
“Ecstatic. It’s an incredible honor to be part of this group and to have this opportunity. I think it’s pivotal, it’s important,” added the PWHL MVP finalist. “And to have a hand in that at the ground level is an extreme honor.”
And don’t be fooled by Knight agreeing to sign a one-year deal. Though she’s already announced the 2026 Winter Games will be her fifth and final Olympics, Knight said she is committed to continuing her pro career in Seattle beyond the PWHL’s third season.
“The term doesn’t really reflect my commitment or my promise to what we want to build and be a part of in the city of Seattle,” she said.
The additions of Seattle and Vancouver grow the league to eight teams, and expands the PWHL’s reach fully across the continent.
In switching coasts, Knight bids farewell to her longtime ties to Boston, which go well beyond the two years she spent serving as captain of the PWHL Fleet. Before her college days at Wisconsin, Knight attended a prep school in New England, and later spent six years playing in Boston for its CWHL and NWHL franchises.
Seattle brings Knight much closer to her offseason home in Sun Valley, Idaho, and to where she’s enjoyed several fond memories.
The foremost came in 2022, when she was wowed by the 14,551 fans inside the NHL Kraken’s arena for a U.S.-Canada Rivalry Series game. And she was back in the same arena in January with 12,608 fans on hand to watch Boston play Montreal to open the PWHL’s nine-game neutral-site Takeover Tour series.
“When the league announced that Seattle was gonna be an expansion franchise, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, whoever has an opportunity to get out there, it’s just going to be an amazing setup and wonderful fan base,’” Knight said. “I think things aligned for me personally in the right way. And I cannot wait for puck drop.”
Knight is coming off a stellar season in which her 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) were tied for the league lead with New York rookie Sarah Fillier. She also captained the U.S. to win its 11th gold medal and her 10th at the women’s world championships in April.
Knight will already have some familiar faces joining her in Seattle, following the signings of U.S. national team members Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter.
The 31-year-old Carpenter agreed to a one-year contract on Friday. She spent her first two seasons in New York and ranks third on the PWHL career list with 43 points (19 goals, 24 assists) in 50 games.
Seattle, which previously signed Ottawa forward Danielle Serdachny, filled out its fifth and final signing spot by agreeing to a two-year deal with goaltender Corinne Schroeder. The all-time PWHL leader in shutouts spent the past two seasons with New York.
With both expansion teams signing their maximum five players, each will add seven more in the expansion draft on Monday. All eight teams will then take part in the PWHL draft on June 24.
Former U.S. national team captain and Vancouver Canucks assistant general manager Cammi Granato welcomed the news of Knight signing with Seattle, where she previously worked as a Kraken scout.
“I think it's fantastic. She is a leader, someone who always promotes the game on and off the ice,” Granato wrote in a text to The Associated Press. “With her accomplishments, she will draw fans to support her and the team. She is an icon.”
Knight reflected on how upon finishing college in 2012 there were few options for women to continue pursing hockey careers outside of their respective national teams. The CWHL didn’t pay its players salaries, while the NWHL did but endured several hiccups and was eventually bought out to establish the PWHL in 2023.
“We all wanted this 20, 30, 100 years ago,” Knight said of the PWHL.
“I’m just so grateful for all the people that came before us to be able to have this league,” she added. “I think we’re in really good hands with where we started Year 1 and where we’re going. And what an amazing hit out of the park to be able to expand in Year 3.”
Buffalo, N.Y. – Matthew Schaefer’s collarbone is fine, and so is the Erie Otter defenseman’s perspective on dealing with adversity.
Missing the final three months of the season entering his draft eligible year, the 17-year-old said, is nothing compared to what NHL Central Scouting’s top-ranked North American skater has already endured.
Schaefer lost his mother, Jennifer, to breast cancer in February 2024. Two months earlier, his billet mother in Erie was struck and killed by a train, with her death ruled a suicide.
“I’ve been through a lot in my life and I’d rather an injury than losing someone I love,” Schaefer said Friday at the NHL’s annual pre-draft combine in Buffalo. "I mean, there’s a lot worse things that can happen than injuries.
As for recovering from the collarbone he broke in December, Schaefer said: “I’m pretty positive with my mindset and I’m driven to want to come back. So yeah, obviously injuries, they’re not fun. But I’m driven to get better and come back even stronger.”
Schaefer was cleared to resume skating May 1 and plans to take part in all of the combine’s strength and agility tests with the exception of the bench press and pullups.
Upbeat and talkative, he showed no hint of the pain he’s dealt with by engaging reporters in opening the press conference by saying: “What’s going on today? Everybody good?”
Schaefer then proceeded to playfully joke and also compliment Saginaw Spirit forward Michael Misa, with whom he shared the podium and is the No. 2-ranked North American skater.
“Not able to play as much, I got to watch a little more and got to know him. Great guy on and off ice,” Schaefer said, before saying he’d be happy if Misa was selected ahead of him.
Schaefer then displayed humility by acknowledging being surprised to maintain the No. 1 ranking despite having his season cut short after being hurt representing Canada at the world junior championships.
“I played only 17 games and, you know, why are you at the top of that list?” he said. “I played in those 17 games, I took it as opportunities and I worked as hard as I could and left it all out there.”
NHL Central Scouting chief Dan Marr told The Associated Press the debate in ranking Schaefer over Misa was close, and wouldn’t be surprised if Misa or perhaps, Boston College center James Hagens, goes No. 1 in the draft in Los Angles on June 27.
Hagens is from Long Island and the top-ranked American-born skater. The top-ranked European skaters are Sweden junior teammates, center Anton Frondell and right wing Victor Eklund, who’s brother William plays for San Jose.
The New York Islanders have the first pick, followed by San Jose and Chicago.
What separated Schaefer from the rest in the rankings, Marr said, was what he showed in his 17 games with Erie, and his performance at the Canada’s Under-18 summer camp.
From Hamilton, Ontario, Schaefer displayed his offensive abilities in scoring seven goals and 22 points with Erie last season. That’s what scouts were looking for following his rookie season in which Schaefer had three goals and 17 points in 56 games.
Listed at 6-foot-2 and 183 pounds, Schaefer is a two-way defenseman with strong skating and play-making ability.
Misa, is from Oakville, Ontario, and enjoyed a breakout third season in Saginaw while making the switch from wing to center.
Granted exceptional status to play at 15 in 2022, he led all Canadian Hockey League players this season with 134 points (62 goals, 72 assists) – the most by an OHL player 17 or younger since John Tavares in 2006-07. Tavares, now with Toronto, went No. 1 pick 2009 draft to the Islanders.
Schaefer enjoyed the interview process over the past week, and said he had dinner with both the Islanders and Sharks.
“I’m a talker. I love all these interviews and stuff, it keeps me busy,” Schaefer said.
He then jokingly frowned when informed Misa had four dinners.
Misa holds Schaefer in high regard, and also acknowledged he’d be fine if the defenseman was selected ahead of him.
“You know what you’re getting from him every night. He’s all over the ice,” Misa said. “When he does make that jump to the NHL, he is going to have no problem fitting in.”
Smiling, Schaefer turned to Misa and said: “Thanks, bro.”
Denver – Colorado Avalanche forward Logan O’Connor is expected to be out at least five months after undergoing hip surgery on Friday.
O'Connor had the procedure performed in New York City by Dr. Bryan Kelly.
The 28-year-old O'Connor is coming off a year in which he had 10 goals and 11 assists in 80 regular-season games. In the playoffs, he scored twice in a first-round series loss to Dallas that extended to seven games.
O'Connor also had hip surgery in March 2024. He signed a six-year extension with Colorado last September.
Before turning professional, O’Connor played three seasons for the University of Denver. He was a member of the Pioneers team that won an NCAA championship in 2016-17.
(Series tied 1-1)
Game 1: Edmonton 4-3 (OT)
Game 2: Florida 5-4 (2OT)
Game 3: Monday at Florida, 8
Game 4: Thursday, June 12 at Florida, 8
Game 5: Saturday, June 14 at Edmonton, 8
x-Game 6: Tuesday, June 17 at Florida, 8
x-Game 7: Friday, June 20 at Edmonton, 8
x-If necessary
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