Panthers Focused on Task at Hand Against Motivated Oilers Team in Cup Final Rematch

The Florida Panthers know exactly what they are going to be up against on Monday night in Edmonton. After all, they were on the other side of it a year ago. But they need to keep their focus.

The Florida Panthers truly started their redemption tour to the Stanley Cup nearly one year ago to this date.

Florida had just gotten done with its Western Canada road trip — one they went 2-3-0 on — and were seeking a spark following another devastating loss to the St. Louis Blues to start the homestand.

Then the Vegas Golden Knights, the team that embarrassed them in the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, came to town on Dec. 23. The Panthers came out pissed, sought revenge, got it in the form of a 4-2 victory, and then spring-boarded themselves into a form they sustained all the way to a Stanley Cup victory.

They find themselves on the other end of that tonight. Against the Edmonton Oilers team they defeated in seven games for the Stanley Cup.

The Panthers know exactly what to expect on the other end of the ice on Thursday night.

“It was pretty angry playing against Vegas for the first time last year,” Matthew Tkachuk said. “There’s nothing you can do about the year before, obviously, but they took away your dream, basically.

“I remember it was a very hard-fought game last year against Vegas. I expect tonight will be a very, very intense game with a lot of physicality. They have a lot of speed and skill but I’m sure this is going to be a pretty intense one.”

Unlike the Panthers and their Stanley Cup revenge game from last season, the Oilers are coming into this one hot. They’ve won their past five games, including the past two games where they put up at least six goals against the Golden Knights and the Minnesota Wild. (AKA the two best teams in the Western Conference.)

Perhaps a match-up with a team of that caliber playing with that much motivation could be what the Panthers need to help them out of their current snag.

They have not scored a goal in 163:59 of game-time — only scoring one goal in three games on this current road trip — and have seen their rush defense deteriorate.

Florida wants to get back to its game and this is the perfect game for just that.

“There has been a lot of hockey since [the Cup Final], so our mindset is where we are at in the season right now,” Sam Reinhart said. “It’s to get back on track.”