Florida 5, Edmonton 2 (Panthers lead Stanley Cup Final 3-2)

Brad Marchand continues to add to his legend. With two goals in the Panthers' Game 5 victory, Marchand has scored six of his 10 playoff goals in the Stanley Cup Final. He now has 10 two-goal playoff games in his career, and he has joined Mario Lemieux as the only player to score five goals in multiple Stanley Cup Finals. Marchand now has 20 points in 22 games, providing serious return on value for the 2027 conditional second-round pick the Panthers gave up for him. If the Panthers win the Stanley Cup, Marchand has to receive serious consideration for the Conn Smythe for the big-time goals he is scoring.

Brad Marchand's goal was so filthy, this Oilers' fan had to switch teams 😭🤣 pic.twitter.com/rOrgPLIlr7

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 15, 2025

Even at age 37, Marchand will be in heavy demand on July 1 if the Panthers don't sign him before then. This seems strange to say for someone his age, but he could actually earn a raise from his current cap hit. Remember that he signed a very Bruins-friendly $6.125 million AAV contract that started in 2017. Whatever number his new contract turns out to be, he will be able to buy as many DQ Blizzards as he wants.

Sam Bennett has scored a goal in six consecutive road playoff games. In addition, he continues to lead the playoffs with 15 goals, including five goals in the final. Only three other active players have scored as many goals during a postseason (Zach Hyman, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby). Like Marchand, Bennett has strong Conn Smythe odds if the Panthers repeat as Stanley Cup champions. Bennett will be well-compensated once the playoffs finish, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Panthers are the team opening the vault, given how important he has turned out to be.  

For the record, none of our writers picked either Marchand or Bennett to win the Conn Smythe in their Stanley Cup Final predictions. That's how much of a difference-maker both have been during the Stanley Cup Final.

Sam Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen scored the other goals for the Panthers. Currently in the shadow of Marchand and Bennett, Reinhart has scored goals in three consecutive games during the final.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 of 21 shots in earning the win. Bobrovsky has tied the NHL record with his 10^th road win of the playoffs.

Time leading in Stanley Cup Final

Panthers 200:25
Oilers 33:51

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) June 15, 2025

The big story for the Oilers before Game 5 was Calvin Pickard starting in net over the up-and-down Stuart Skinner. Pickard allowed four goals on 18 shots in Game 5, although the loss could hardly be placed squarely on his shoulders. Pickard had replaced Skinner to start the second period of Game 4 after Skinner allowed three goals in the first period. Going back further, Skinner had allowed five goals in both of Games 2 and 3 as well. After the game, coach Kris Knoblauch wouldn't announce a starting goalie for Game 6. If I had to bet, I'd say the Oilers return to Skinner for this do-or-die match.

With his goal in Game 5, Connor McDavid is now the third-fastest player to reach 150 career playoff points, behind only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. He is also tied with Leon Draisaitl for the playoff scoring lead with 33 points each. Both are 10 points clear of the next-highest point-getter, which is teammate Evan Bouchard.

Just as over-35 Marchand is impressing for the Panthers, 40-year-old Corey Perry continues to get the job done for the Oilers. Perry scored his tenth goal of playoffs, with five of those goals coming in the last seven games. Perry has also registered at least three shots per game over the last four games while mainly playing on a line with Draisaitl and McDavid. Leveraging this prime deployment, UFA-to-be Perry should be able to sign somewhere next season if he chooses to.

Game 5 was the first time in the 2025 playoffs that the Oilers had scored fewer than three goals in a home game.

Viktor Arvidsson returned for Game 5 after being a healthy scratch for Game 4. Arvidsson replaced Kasperi Kapanen, who played just eight minutes and change in each of Game 3 and 4. Arvidsson played just 11 minutes himself while not generating any shots, so I wonder if he stays in the lineup for Game 6.

Yesterday I mentioned Jake Walman's boost in value when he was traded from Detroit to San Jose, then about how he lost some of it when he was traded to Edmonton. I thought I'd list his output during his final season in Detroit, followed by his stint with San Jose, then regular season and playoffs with Edmonton.

2023-24 Detroit: 63 GP, 21 PTS, 0.33 PTS/GP

2024-25 San Jose: 50 GP, 32 PTS, 0.64 PTS/GP

2024-25 Edmonton: 15 GP, 8 PTS, 0.53 PTS/GP (regular season)

2024-25 Edmonton: 21 GP, 9 PTS, 0.43 PTS/GP (playoffs)

That Edmonton sample size gives us a pretty good idea of what Walman will be next season. Unlike in San Jose, Walman won't be on the top power play with the Oilers. Still, 35 points seems like a reasonable projection for him, since the Oilers as a team don't have issues scoring.

The Stanley Cup will be in the Amerant Bank Arena in Florida on Tuesday, where the Panthers will try to hoist it. Meanwhile, the Oilers will try to force another long trip back to Edmonton for a Game 7 that would take place on Friday.

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Video time! Dobber has another video – this one on Connor Bedard. Does he think that Bedard is going to be a generational player or "just" a star? Watch, like, share, subscribe, and comment!

I had Bedard as one of my players that didn't meet expectations when I was recapping the regular season about a month ago, and I'd have to say that Dobber and I are thinking similarly here.

Bedard hasn't quite shown himself to be a generational talent in his two seasons, scoring in the 0.8-0.9 PTS/GP range. Over a similar number of games played over the past two seasons, however, Bedard's point production has been close to the likes of Brady Tkachuk, Tage Thompson, and Rasmus Dahlin. That's still pretty solid, even if it's not at the elite level that we hoped.

On top of that, Bedard will just turn 20 in July. In Bedard's first two seasons, the Blackhawks haven't surrounded him with a ton of talent, as he is 36 points ahead of the team's second-leading scorer over his two seasons. The Hawks have $29 million in cap space this offseason, so don't be surprised if they make a play at a free agent or two to supplement the young talent coming in. That could make Bedard smile a little more next season.

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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