EDMONTON, Alberta — The Edmonton Oilers swore things would be different in their Stanley Cup Final rematch with the Florida Panthers. They proved it in Game 1 with an impressive comeback and a 4-3 overtime win.

Last year, the Panthers took a 3-0 series lead that started with a shutout win. The Oilers were in uncharted territory, while Florida was playing in its second straight Final. Having gone through the experience of last season — and the heartbreak of losing in Game 7 — the Oilers were confident and poised before star center Leon Draisaitl‘s power-play goal with 31 seconds left in OT earned them the 1-0 series lead.

“It’s huge. Obviously when you look back at it, if we get one win right away, it’s a completely different story [last season],” said goalie Stuart Skinner, who was solid again with 30 saves Wednesday night. “I think the way that we showed up right from the get-go, and the way that we continued to keep on going even though we were down by two, that shows a lot of character by us.”

The mindset was clear even before the game. Skinner remembered feeling overwhelmed when the Stanley Cup trophy was presented on the ice before the first game last year. This time, when the Cup made its cameo, Skinner said he felt completely different.

“When I saw the Cup on the ice last year, I was kind of looking at it with googly eyes,” he acknowledged. “This year, I saw it already. So now it’s time to get back to work. It felt completely different emotionally.”

The Oilers took a 1-0 lead just 1:06 into the game thanks to a furious forecheck by Draisaitl. Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky had trouble with a shot from inside the point. Draisaitl was there to shoot home the rebound for an early lead.

The game took a turn just after the midway point of the first when a Carter Verhaeghe shot deflected off of Panthers center Sam Bennett and behind Skinner. Replays showed that Bennett’s leg made contact with that of Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak before he fell into the crease.

Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch opted to use his coach’s challenge for goalie interference. After a brief review, the officials confirmed it was a good goal at 10:49 of the first and Edmonton was given a delay-of-game penalty.

Brad Marchand scored a power-play goal at 12:30, roofing the puck to Skinner’s left, for the 2-1 lead.

Ironically, the turning point of the Oilers’ postseason involved a failed coach’s challenge. In Game 3 against Los Angeles, trailing the series 2-0, Kings coach Jim Hiller challenged the game-tying goal by Edmonton, which scored the game-winning goal 10 seconds into their ensuing power play.

“I challenged that any day,” Knoblauch said. “I feel what I’ve seen the NHL with goalie interference, I had a lot of confidence in challenge.”

Bennett extended the lead to 3-1 just two minutes into the second period, before Viktor Arvidsson answered 1:17 later.

The score remained that until 13:27 of the third period when Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm blasted a shot past Bobrovsky to knot it up 3-3. It was Ekholm’s first goal of the playoffs, having missed 15 postseason games with an injury. McDavid floated a pass through the crease to set up Ekholm.

In overtime, the Panthers skated out on fire, pressuring Skinner. But one critical mistake led to Draisaitl’s game-winner. With 1:42 left, forward Tomas Nosek put the puck over the glass for a delay-of-game penalty. Florida entered the game with the best penalty kill in the playoffs (87.9%) until Draisaitl’s goal.

Florida coach Paul Maurice defended his fourth-line center whose mistake ended up costing the Panthers Game 1.

“We’re not here without Tomas Nosek. He gets a tough break. So we’ll just make sure he doesn’t need alone tonight. He’s got lots of people sitting on his table and reminding him how good he’s been to us,” Maurice said.

As for Draisaitl, his game winner continued a dominant postseason. He’s second to McDavid (28) in points (27) in the playoffs. This was his third OT goal of the playoffs, tying an NHL record for most in a single postseason with Mel Hill in 1939, Maurice Richard in 1951, his Oilers teammate Corey Perry in 2017 and Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk in 2023.

Draisaitl is the fourth player ever to score an overtime power-play goal in the Stanley Cup Final since 1934, when goals by type were first officially tracked.

McDavid, who assisted on Draisaitl’s game winner, had nothing but praise for his teammate.

“He’s invaluable. There’s so many good things. You name it, he does it. He doesn’t get enough respect or credit for his defensive abilities,” McDavid said. “There’s not many better. Maybe nobody better.”

Game 2 is scheduled for Friday night in Edmonton.