EDGE stats behind Panthers repeating as Stanley Cup champions

NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we look at the underlying metrics behind the Florida Panthers repeating as Stanley Cup champions.

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The Florida Panthers have repeated as Stanley Cup champions, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in each of the past two Stanley Cup Final series.

The Panthers tied an NHL record for road wins (10) this postseason, including two victories in Edmonton during the Cup Final (Games 2 and 5), and won the championship despite not starting with home ice in any of the four playoff rounds.

Florida was led by center Sam Bennett, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Bennett led the NHL in goals (15) during the 2025 playoffs and set an NHL record for most road goals (13) in a single postseason.

The Panthers had six players with at least 20 playoff points (Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Carter Verhaeghe: 23 each; Bennett, Aleksander Barkov: 22 each; Brad Marchand: 20), tying the 1985 Oilers and 1983 New York Islanders for the most such players in a single postseason in NHL history.

The Panthers received a huge boost in their title defense by acquiring Marchand (from Boston Bruins) and defenseman Seth Jones (from Chicago Blackhawks) prior to the NHL Trade Deadline. Marchand scored six goals in six games during the 2025 Cup Final, including two game-winning goals and the double-overtime winner in Game 2. Marchand and frequent linemates Eetu Luostarinen and Anton Lundell formed a dominant trio, accounting for three of the top four 5-on-5 point producers in the 2025 playoffs (Oilers forward Connor McDavid: 18; Luostarinen, Lundell: 17 each; Marchand: 16).

Here are three underlying numbers behind Florida’s championship run:

1. High-danger goals

The Panthers led the 2025 playoffs in high-danger goals (52) and had the highest high-danger shooting percentage (30.1) of any NHL team to advance past the first round of a single postseason during the puck and player tracking era (since 2021-22).

Bennett finished tied with Oilers wing Corey Perry for the NHL lead in high-danger goals (eight each) this postseason, and teammates Marchand (seven; tied for third) and Anton Lundell (six; fifth) were also among the League leaders in the category. Only McDavid had more high-danger shots on goal (29) in the postseason than Bennett (27; tied for second).

Four of the Panthers’ high-danger goals were scored by defensemen (Nate Schmidt, Aaron Ekblad, Seth Jones, Niko Mikkola), the most at the position during the 2025 postseason. Florida scored the most total goals by defensemen (18), led by Ekblad and Jones (four each). Jones led NHL defensemen in total miles skated (81.25 miles; second in NHL behind McDavid’s 95.86) this postseason.

2. Bobrovsky’s goal differential, containing McDavid

Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky had by far the best goal differential (plus-39) among goalies this postseason; Frederik Andersen of the Carolina Hurricanes was second at plus-10. The goal support in front of Bobrovsky was exceptional; the Panthers scored 92 goals in front of Bobrovsky, the most for any goalie ahead of the Oilers’ 43 goals scored in front of Stuart Skinner.

Bobrovsky particularly elevated his game against shots off the rush in the Cup Final, which was a huge factor against a speedy Oilers team. NHL EDGE IQ, powered by AWS, defines a shot off the rush as one that comes within five seconds of the puck crossing the offensive blue line. Bobrovsky had a .926 save percentage against shots off the rush in the Cup Final compared to his .858 save percentage on shots off the rush over the first 3 rounds of the 2025 playoffs.

Bobrovsky, Barkov and defenseman Gustav Forsling led another stout defensive effort in containing McDavid, who was held to one goal and two 5-on-5 points over the six-game series. Florida held McDavid without a point in Games 6 and 7 of the 2024 Cup Final and did the same in Game 6 of the 2025 Cup Final. Florida also contained Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning (no goals in five games) in the first round and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round (one goal in seven games) this postseason.

3. Possession advantage, first-period prowess

The Panthers held a lead over the Oilers for 255:49 during the Cup Final (six games), a new record for a championship series in NHL history. Over Games 3-6 of the Cup Final, the Panthers dominated first periods, outscoring the Oilers 9-0 with a 95-53 advantage in shot attempts.

Per NHL EDGE IQ, powered by AWS, “Ice Tilt” quantifies territorial momentum based on which team has the advantage (and by what margin) at any given point during game play. The Panthers had the ice tilt advantage in each of the first five games of the Cup Final, especially in the opening 20 minutes of play. Florida tilted the ice in their direction on average for 10:25 per game in the first periods during the series, significantly higher than the Oilers (7:52).

In the Cup Final, Florida had a superior offensive zone time percentage (45.7) compared to Edmonton (39.4) and also had the advantage in 5-on-5 shot attempts percentage (51.8 to 48.2).

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