Panthers 5, Oilers 4 (series tied 1-1)

Brad Marchand made his breakaway opportunities count during Game 2. Marchand scored both of his goals on breakaways, with his second goal of the game the game-winner in the second overtime period of Game 2 on Friday.

BRAD MARCHAND STUNS THE EDMONTON CROWD AND WINS GAME 2 FOR THE PANTHERS IN DOUBLE OVERTIME 🚨 pic.twitter.com/AwfnAJBULw

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 7, 2025

Marchand had an impressive game with two goals, a plus-3, seven shots, and two hits. He has also scored goals in back-to-back games and is up to 17 points in 19 games. That's not bad for a 37-year-old who is playing on Florida's third line.

Marchand is adding to his legend during the playoffs as well. He now has the most goals in the Stanley Cup Final (10) among active players, the most Cup Final goals among left wingers in history, and the third-most playoff overtime goals in NHL history. Like him or not, he is definitely in the discussion among clutch players in NHL history. In hindsight, a conditional second-round pick seems like a small price for the Panthers to pay the Bruins, even if Marchand is a rental in the true sense of the word.

While we're on the subject of over-35 greats producing when it matters the most, this is a great time to bring up Corey Perry. Playing on the top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the 40-year-old Perry scored his eighth goal of the playoffs with just 18 seconds in regulation to tie the game for the Oilers.

COREY PERRY
COREY PERRY
COREY PERRY pic.twitter.com/2xduKMPM7F

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 7, 2025

Perry is right behind Marchand with nine Stanley Cup Final goals among active players. A UFA after the season who hasn't scored at over a 40-point pace since the 2017-18 season, Perry somehow looks like he needs to be on some contending team's roster again next season to score more big-game goals. It's worth mentioning that Perry was fifth on the Oilers in goals during the regular season with 19 goals, something he accomplished while averaging fewer than 12 minutes per game.

This game seemed to have a bit of everything, starting with the majority of its goals scored in the first period. The Oilers finished the period with a 3-2 lead.

Sam Bennett, Seth Jones, and Dmitry Kulikov scored the Panthers' other goals, while Anton Lundell and Nate Schmidt each had two assists. Bennett leads the playoffs with 13 goals in just 19 games after finishing the regular season with 25 goals in 76 games. Expect a team to throw an absurd amount of money at him this offseason, as no free agent has added to his value more than Bennett during the playoffs. Bennett's career highs are 28 goals and 51 points, but teams understand that his value extends well beyond the scoresheet.  

Selke Trophy winner Aleksander Barkov led all players with 24 faceoff wins.

Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, and Evander Kane scored the Oilers' other goals. In addition to his goal, Bouchard filled the statsheet with two assists, eight shots, and four blocks while logging 34:29. Bouchard has been a point-per-game player during the playoffs for each of the last three seasons, scoring a combined 70 points in just 55 games. Say what you want about Bouchard's defensive play, but he elevates his offense during the playoffs.

Connor McDavid finished with three assists and led all skaters with 35:07 of icetime in this extended game. He also came up with a highlight reel assist on the Draisaitl goal.

Connor McDavid is poetry in motion pic.twitter.com/67WAqMUVm3

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) June 7, 2025

McDavid leads all players with 31 playoff points, followed by Draisaitl with 29.

The teams will have two days off before Game 3 on Monday. The flight from Edmonton to Miami is a long one with a distance of 4114 km / 2558 miles! If this final goes the distance, it will finish on Friday June 20. Very little time before free agency on July 1.

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Some major coaching news went down on Friday, as Pete DeBoer was relieved of his head coaching duties with the Dallas Stars. Under DeBoer, the Stars had the best overall record of any team over the past three seasons and had gone to the Western Conference Final for three consecutive seasons. Coaching multiple teams, DeBoer has made the conference final in six of the past seven seasons.

It seems insane that a coach that just took his team to the conference final is being let go, but this also happened in the NBA recently (Tom Thibodeau with the New York Knicks). The questionable decision to pull Jake Oettinger in Game 5 was right there for everyone to see, while his comments afterward about not having faith in Oettinger might have sealed his fate. Keeping the franchise goalie over the replaceable coach seems like a no-brainer if the two can't coexist anymore.

DeBoer seems to get results wherever he coaches, but he also seems to wear out his welcome, having been dismissed from three different teams over the past six years. That might give teams pause in hiring DeBoer for a vacant head coaching job, despite his success. DeBoer has had an NHL head coaching job somewhere since 2008-09, so he'll probably be back behind an NHL bench at some point. That will especially be the case for a team not meeting expectations needing to turn things around quickly.

The Stars had made the Western Conference Final for three consecutive seasons without advancing to the Stanley Cup Final, so the thought may be that another coach will get the Stars over the hump. The truth is, they will need to nail their next hire to replace an experienced bench boss like DeBoer. Perhaps GM Jim Nill already has someone in mind.

As for Oettinger, he should be fine. Expect the new coach to make it a priority to smooth Oettinger's feathers after his Western Conference Final experience. We won't know how the coaching change will fully affect Dallas players fantasy-wise until they decide on the new coach.

In other Stars news, Tyler Seguin was dealing with a shoulder injury during the playoffs. Seguin is expected to rehab the injury over the summer.

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Logan O'Connor underwent hip surgery recently, which he will need 5-6 months of recovery time. That will put O'Connor out of the lineup until November or December, so he likely won't be ready for the start of the season. O'Connor finished the season with 21 points in 80 games while filling a fourth-line role for the Avs, so his absence shouldn't affect a ton of fantasy teams.

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Shoutout to former The Journey and Dobber Prospects writer Dave Hall, who is now the prospects writer for Canucks Army. Dave has been providing amazing coverage of the Abbotsford Canucks during their Calder Cup playoff run. While I was watching Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, I would refresh Hall's X feed (follow here) regularly for updates in the Abbotsford Canucks/Texas Stars Western Conference Final matchup.

Texas won 2-1 in overtime in Game 5 in the Lone Star State on Friday, but the Baby Canucks still lead the series 3-2 heading back to Abbotsford for Game 6 on Sunday. The winner will face the Charlotte Checkers (Florida) for the Calder Cup. Charlotte swept the Laval Rocket (Montreal) in the Eastern Conference Final.

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Don’t forget about the 19^th annual Fantasy Prospects Report! Pick up yours at Dobber Sports today so that you can get ahead of your offseason keeper league decisions.

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Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Threads @goodsfantasyhockey and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social