Stanley Cup Final: Panthers-Oilers Game 2 grades, takeaways - ESPN

We tried to tell you after Game 1. Unless one of these teams pulls ahead by a large margin early in the game, it's likely that every contest between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final is going to be decided in the last 10 minutes — or at least one overtime period.

That's what happened in Game 1 with the Oilers winning in overtime. It happened again Friday with the venerable Corey Perry scoring the game-tying goal with 18 seconds left to send it to OT. But it would take double overtime before another veteran, Brad Marchand, scored the winning goal to give the Panthers a 5-4 victory. That draws the series level as the games head to South Florida, starting with Game 3 on Monday.

By now, you know how this works. How did both teams perform in another dramatic overtime contest? Who were the standout players for each side? And, as always, what are the major questions facing the Oilers and Panthers before Game 3?

The Oilers scored three first-period goals only to give up two in the frame and then two more in the next period as they struggled to gain control.

Even with all of that, they found a way to score the tying goal late in the third period and force overtime for a consecutive game against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

There was so much up and down in Game 2, and yet the Oilers still had a chance at victory — only to watch Marchand score the winner in double OT.

For as strong as the Oilers are at coming back, Game 2 reinforced the importance of taking advantage of their opportunities. They controlled possession in the third period with a 63.6% shot share and four high-danger scoring chances; they had a 51.2% shot share in the first OT but still produced five high-danger scoring