Roslovic scores twice, Oilers hold off Panthers in Stanley Cup Final rematch

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Jack Roslovic scored two goals and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Florida Panthers 6-3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

It was the first meeting between the two teams since the Panthers clinched the 2025 Stanley Cup with a 5-1 win against the Oilers in Game 6 on June 17. Florida also defeated Edmonton for the Cup in 2024, winning in seven games.

Edmonton went 3-3-1 on its seven-game road trip that ended Saturday.

“It was long, it was grueling, and I thought our effort the past two games was probably our best,” said Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch, whose team lost 2-1 in overtime at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. “It’s not easy coming here, to Tampa Bay and Florida, and playing those two teams. But I thought our guys were really focused and did the little things we needed to do.’’

Mattias Ekholm had a goal and two assists, Evan Bouchard had three assists, and Stuart Skinner made 35 saves for the Oilers (10-9-5).

“I think it was massive, it takes a lot of guts by our team here because it was a really long road trip with a lot of travel, and a lot of really tough teams to play against,” Skinner said. “To come out and get a win … that’s really important. This win was huge for us.’’

Anton Lundell and Mackie Samoskevich each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers (11-9-1). Sergei Bobrovsky allowed four goals on 17 shots before being relieved by Daniil Tarasov midway through the second period.

Tarasov stopped all 12 shots he faced with Edmonton scoring its final two goals into an empty net.

“They had the lead, so they were able to protect a little bit and we had the chance to push a little bit hard,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “Shots were [13-8] for them in the first period, but we missed the net 13 times. We were in the right end and generating enough but just gave up too much.”

The Oilers took a 1-0 lead only 25 seconds into the game when Florida turned over the puck and Roslovic sent a shot from the half-wall that snuck through the skates of Bobrovsky at the right post.

It was the fastest goal to start a game for the Oilers this season.

Lundell tied the score 1-1 when he chopped at a pass from Samoskevich from the goal mouth at 6:30 of the first period.

Roslovic got his second goal to make it 2-1 at 7:06, beating Bobrovsky with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle. He has six goals in his past eight games and nine overall.

“It is always hard to play this team so it was good to fight one out and get home,” Roslovic said. “We wanted to play our game, have one last hard-working game on this road trip and find a 3-3-1 record and get home on a good note. There were a lot of great individual efforts.”

Ekholm gave Edmonton a 3-1 lead at 13:58, scoring in the slot after getting to a rebound off a shot from Adam Henrique.

The Oilers chased Bobrovsky at 6:45 of the second period when Vasily Podkolzin made it 4-1 by scoring off a sharp-angled shot from the goal line that glanced off the right shoulder of Bobrovsky.

Florida scored the final two goals of the second in a period it outshot the Oilers 20-11 and trailed 4-3 going into the third.

Samoskevich made it 4-2 at 10:04, one-timing a cross-ice pass in the left circle from Uvis Balinskis.

Sam Reinhart also cashed in on a power-play opportunity, getting to a rebound on a Lundell shot in the slot to make it 4-3 at 13:30.

“After they got a couple of quick ones, we fought back and we played a pretty solid rest of the game,” said Sam Bennett, who was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 2025 and had an assist off three shots and nine attempts. “We just couldn’t quite get that last one. But it was a good push, we just didn’t quite seem to have enough. … We have played them a lot in the past, so, no surprise there.’’

Connor McDavid scored with Tarasov on the bench to make it 5-3 at 17:20 of the third period before Matt Savoie scored at 17:47 for the 6-3 final.

Skinner made 10 saves in the third period and kept the Panthers from coming any closer than a goal.

“He played really good tonight, especially in the third when they had some big chances. You need some saves,” Knoblauch said. “We needed him, and he rose to the occasion.”

Florida was playing without defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who was a late scratch with an upper-body injury after not participating in Saturday's morning skate.

Maurice said Ekblad is expected to travel with the team to Nashville on Sunday and should be available to play Monday against the Predators.

NOTES: Leon Draisaitl had the primary assist on Podkolzin’s goal and extended his scoring streak to six games (10 points; four goals, six assists). … Roslovic had the 50th multipoint game of his career. … Samoskevich was playing in his 100th NHL game. … Reinhart has a six-game scoring streak going (10 points; five goals, five assists).