Oilers, Panthers more alike as Stanley Cup final rematch arrives

A year ago, when the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers met in the Stanley Cup final, they were opposites in everything from climate, market and franchise history to deep-run experience and toughness.

Since Florida won that series in seven games for its first championship, much has changed to make these opponents much more alike.

The Panthers have added talent and skill, and the Oilers have gotten older and become harder to play against. Those changes set the stage for a compelling rematch. Game 1 is Wednesday in Edmonton at 8 p.m. ET.

"These are the two nastiest teams left," 2003 Cup winner Mike Rupp said. "They don't seem to get rattled, they play with a lot of intensity, sometimes they cross the line. They just defend well. There's a lot of things that they're different than one another about, but at the core of it, they're pretty similar to each other."

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl haven't gone anywhere, but they've also been through the heartbreak of forcing Game 7 against the Panthers and falling short of the goal they've been hunting over the past decade together. With Trent Frederic, Jeff Skinner, John Klingberg and Jake Walman, the Oilers are bigger and more seasoned for this.

"They're meaner," said retired defenceman Jason Demers, who like Rupp is now an NHL Network analyst. "They have a little bite to their game, a lot more bite than last year where they were a little bit more speedy."

Florida can be speedy, opportunistic and dangerous, and has been over the past few post-seasons, winning 10 of 11 series since head coach Paul Maurice took over and winger Matthew Tkachuk arrived after a trade from Calgary.

The Panthers are in the final for a third consecutive year, losing to Vegas in 2023 only after