Will the Edmonton Oilers finish as Stanley Cup runners-up again?
Edmonton was pushed to the brink of elimination in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final on Saturday, losing Game 5 at home by a score of 5-2 to the defending champion Florida Panthers. The series now shifts back to Florida for Game 6 on Tuesday, when the Panthers will have the chance to pull off a repeat championship.
The rare Cup Final rematch between Florida and Edmonton has played out much differently than last year, when the Oilers erased a 3-0 series deficit before dropping the decisive Game 7 on the road.
Panthers-Oilers Round 2 has been a back-and-forth battle with three overtime contests in five games. Edmonton took the series opener before Florida responded with two straight victories. The Oilers evened the series in Game 4, but the Panthers pulled back ahead in Game 5.
Now, Connor McDavid and Co. need to win two straight elimination to avoid becoming repeat Stanley Cup runners-up.
Has an NHL team ever lost back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals?
The Oilers wouldn’t be the first team to suffer Cup Final losses in consecutive seasons.
How many NHL teams have lost back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals?
Since the start of the expansion era in the 1967-68 season, there have been just two instances of the same team losing at least two Cup Finals in a row.
