The Edmonton Oilers could not overcome the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. Sam Reinhart scored four goals in Game 6 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. And as a result, the Panthers repeated as Stanley Cup champions. Once again, Connor McDavid fell short of his first championship ring.
McDavid espoused a level of confidence through this Final. He truly believed his team would win this series. In fact, he said as much before Game 6 on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
Unfortunately, McDavid and his teammates could not overcome Florida. The Oilers captain scored just one goal in the entire series. And the Panthers generally dominated Edmonton despite a very close first two games of the Stanley Cup Final.
Following Game 6, McDavid made no excuses. He stood by his team, telling the media that no one within his team quit. Edmonton lost because the Panthers are that good of a hockey team.
“We lost to a really good team,” McDavid said, via NHL.com staff writer Derek Van Diest. “Nobody quit, nobody threw the towel in, but they’re a heck of a team. They’re back-to-back Stanley Cup champions for a reason.”
Connor McDavid Reveals How Panthers Won
Bruce Bennett/Getty ImagesConnor McDavid spoke about how the Florida Panthers got the better of the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final.
There are a number of factors that went into this outcome. For instance, the Oilers struggled keeping the puck out of the net, allowing three or more goals in each of these six games. McDavid, however, pointed to another area of the game that affected the outcome of this series.
“Their forecheck was great, they tilted the rink,” McDavid said, via Van Diest. “They were able to stay on top of us all over the place and we were never really able to generate any momentum up the ice. We kept trying the same thing over and over again, banging our heads against the wall. Credit to them, they played well.”
Florida’s intense pressure game showed itself in the first period on Tuesday night. Edmonton struggled to break two pucks out of the defensive zone. The Panthers forced turnovers, and scored on both opportunities.
Oilers Trying to Process Stanley Cup Final Loss
Edmonton believed they had the team that could prevent the Panthers from repeating. And in the first two games, it certainly looked like they did. Their defeat on Tuesday night stings even more as a result.
“There’s no silver lining to this. It’s still heart-wrenching, it’s very difficult to handle right now,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said, via Van Diest. “Just because we were maybe the underdogs going into the L.A. series, the underdogs going against Vegas and the Dallas series, it hurts right now and I don’t think it’s going to let up for a while.”
Despite the loss, McDavid believes his team can still win. Leon Draisaitl is signed long-term, and McDavid can sign a long-term deal of his own on July 1. With these two at the helm, the Oilers should remain one of the NHL’s better teams.
“We still have a lot of confidence and belief. I don’t think people thought we were going to make it this far. We believe and we came up just short again,” McDavid said following Game 6.
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