Do the Panthers really have the advantage in the final goalkeeper matchup of the 2025 Stanley Cup?

The Stanley Cup final will be set as the Edmonton Oilers face the Florida Panthers in their rematch of last year’s Cup final.

Heading into the Cup Final, which begins on June 4th, is a goaltender fight as Stuart Skinner starts at Edmonton and Sergey Bobrovsky starts at Florida Panthers.

Which teams will have an advantage in goaltending ahead of the Cup final?

Stuart Skinner vs Sergei Bobrovsky

Stuart Skinner is back as the starting goalkeeper for the Oilers. He was pulled in the first round of the playoffs in favor of Calvin Picard for his struggle.

However, after being injured by Picard, Skinner took over the net again and has been dominant ever since. After a 2-0 drop in the first round series, the Oilers went 12-2 to advance to the Cup final, with Skinner being a big reason.

Skinner is 6-4 with 2.53 GAA and .904 SV% with three shutouts in the playoffs. In his career against the Panthers, he is 2-2 with 3.91 GAA and .888 SV%.

Skinner says he is in the Cup final with enough confidence in his game.

“I had confidence before,” Skinner said via Tampabay.com. “It’s life of being a goaltender…it’s decline and flow. You can feel it right away. Sometimes you don’t feel it right away. I mean, I wish you could always feel it.”

Skinner went 3-4 in the Cup final last season with 2.33 GAA and .909 SV%.

Sergei Bobrovsky

Sergei Bobrovsky is one of the best goalkeepers in the NHL and a key reason for the Panthers’ success.

Bobrovsky is 12-5 with 2.11 GAA and .912 SV% in the playoffs. In the Stanley Cup final of his career, Bobrovsky is 5-7 with 3.51 GAA and .875 SV%, but helped the Panthers beat Edmonton last season.

Which team has the goalkeeper advantage in the Stanley Cup final?

Ultimately, both Florida and Edmonton are confident in their goaltending ahead of the Stanley Cup final.

Both goalkeepers have been great lately, but Bobrovsky is a more consistent goalkeeper.

Skinners are dominant and can either not allow goals or allow and pull many goals, as we saw in round one. But if both goalkeepers continue to play as they have, it’s very even.

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Cole is Sportskeeda’s NHL, NFL, College Sports Reporter and has over seven years of experience writing publications such as CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPenn, Sherdog, and SB Nation.

For his lifetime of an NHL fan, Cole grew up playing rep hockey in Canada from age 5 to 17, supporting Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His best players of all time are Vincent Recavalier and Stephen Stancos, but John Cooper is his favourite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and earned his degree in Journalism in 2019. After decades of viewing and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his main strength. He assures that the same story has been reported by at least two review reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when he doesn’t report a broken story. His favorite sport moment came from the 2010 Olympics, when Sydney Crosby defeated Team USA, who scored a prime goal in gold time and won the gold medal.

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Edited by Cole Shelton