Leon Draisaitl delivers brutally honest assessment of Oilers' back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals loss to Panthers

Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers lost 5-1 to the Florida Panthers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday. With the victory, the Panthers won their second straight Stanley Cup.

Sam Reinhart scored four out of five goals in the game. Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves, and Matthew Tkachuk also scored a goal to help the team win.

The Oilers lost to the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final last year in seven games. This time, Florida finished the series in six games.

After the loss, Leon Draisaitl spoke honestly about the back-to-back defeats. A reporter asked him what he would remember about this team. Draisaitl said,

“Yeah, we battled, but we're not leaving here as winners.”

When asked if it hurts more the second time, Draisaitl replied,

“Always hurts. Yeah, I don't know. It's not more or less. It's just the same.”

The reporter further asked about the team’s belief and confidence going into the playoffs. Draisaitl said,

“The takeaway is that we didn't win. Nobody cares. Nobody cares. We didn't win. So, good, try again next year.”

Draisaitl scored 52 goals and 54 assists in the 2024-25 regular season. In the playoffs, Draisaitl played 23 games and recorded 11 goals and 22 assists.

Leon Draisaitl's Oilers teammate Connor McDavid credited Panthers for the win

Apart from Leon Draisaitl, Oilers captain Connor McDavid also looked disappointed after the team lost to the Panthers for the second straight year. He said the team struggled to handle Florida’s pressure and could not find a way to respond.

"Obviously, their forecheck was great. They tilted the rink," McDavid said, in postgame comments on Tuesday, via CBS Sports. "They were able to kind of stay on top of us all over the place, (and we were) never really able to generate any momentum up the ice... Credit to them, (as) they played well."

McDavid also talked about Florida’s depth and mentioned the Panthers had an edge with several players scoring over 20 points in the playoffs.

McDavid led the playoffs with 33 points, tied with Leon Draisaitl. However, he went pointless in Game 6 and had just two points in the last four games.

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Edited by Brad Taningco