The 1985 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1984–85 season, and the culmination of the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the defending champion Edmonton Oilers (in their third straight Finals appearance) and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Oilers defeated the Flyers in five games to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. It was also the sixth straight Finals contested between teams that joined the NHL in 1967 or later.

Until , this was also the last time that a team, defending champion, or runner-up appeared in the Finals for the third straight season. This was the fourth of nine consecutive Finals contested by a team from Western Canada, third of eight contested by a team from Alberta (the Oilers appeared in six, the Calgary Flames in and , and the Vancouver Canucks in ), and the second of five consecutive Finals to end with the Cup presentation on Alberta ice (the Oilers won four of those times, the Montreal Canadiens once). Game five of this series was played on May 30, which at the time was the latest finishing date for an NHL season. The record was broken two years later.

Paths to the Finals

Edmonton defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3–0, the Winnipeg Jets 4–0, and the Chicago Black Hawks 4–2 to advance to the finals.

Philadelphia defeated the New York Rangers 3–0, the New York Islanders 4–1, and the Quebec Nordiques 4–2 to make it to the finals.

Game summaries This was the first Stanley Cup Final in which games were scheduled for June. Game six was scheduled for June 2, and game seven for June 4. The NHL season would not extend into an actual June game until , due to a players strike.

The NHL realigned its conferences and divisions based on geographic regions in 1981 and instituted a 2–3–2 schedule format for the Stanley Cup Final, with home ice advantage awarded to the division with the better aggregate record in interdivisional games. 1985 would be the last Final played under this format. Since then, the league has held to a 2–2–1–1–1 format, and home ice has gone to the team with the better regular season record.

Wayne Gretzky scored seven goals in the five games, tying the record set by Jean Béliveau of the Canadiens in and Mike Bossy of the Islanders in . Grant Fuhr stopped two penalty shots. Jari Kurri scored 19 goals through the entire playoffs, tying the single-year record set by Reggie Leach of the Flyers in .

This was the last Stanley Cup Final in which either starting goalie wore the old-style fiberglass mask. Both Fuhr and the Flyers' Pelle Lindbergh wore the face-hugging mask, which was introduced in 1959 by Jacques Plante. The backups, Edmonton's Andy Moog and Philadelphia's Bob Froese, wore the helmet-and-cage combination, similar to the one Billy Smith wore in leading the New York Islanders to four consecutive Cups from 1980 to 1983. The next year, the Calgary Flames' Mike Vernon sported a helmet-and-cage combo, and Montreal Canadiens rookie Patrick Roy wore a modern full fiberglass cage, the second goalie to sport that style in a Final series after Gilles Meloche with the Minnesota North Stars in 1981. Fuhr switched to a full fiberglass cage the next season.

This was the first Stanley Cup Final in which the NHL official (referee or linesman) wore a helmet (Andy Van Hellemond). This occurred during game one.

Game one

The Flyers posted a 4–1 victory to open the series. Edmonton coach Glen Sather was reportedly so disappointed with his team's performance that he burned the game videotapes after watching them. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st PHI Ilkka Sinisalo (6) – pp Tim Kerr (4) and Todd Bergen (9) 15:05 1–0 PHI 2nd None 3rd PHI Ron Sutter (4) Unassisted 05:56 2–0 PHI PHI Tim Kerr (9)Dave Poulin (3) 08:07 3–0 PHI EDM Willy Lindstrom (3) Mark Messier (10) and Randy Gregg (6) 16:52 3–1 PHI PHI Dave Poulin (3) – en Lindsay Carson (2) and Ron Sutter (7) 19:39 4–1 PHI Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st PHI Dave Poulin Elbowing 05:08 2:00 EDM Paul Coffey Interference 05:49 2:00 EDM Kevin McClelland Fighting – major 11:15 5:00 PHI Ed Hospodar Fighting – major 11:15 5:00 EDM Willy Lindstrom Cross-checking 13:59 2:00 EDM Charlie Huddy Hooking 14:13 2:00 EDM Dave Lumley Hooking 17:42 2:00 2nd EDM Kevin McClelland Fighting – major 01:59 5:00 EDM Don Jackson Elbowing 01:59 2:00 EDM Don Jackson Fighting – major 01:59 5:00 PHI Joe Paterson Fighting – major 01:59 5:00 PHI Ed Hospodar Fighting – major 01:59 5:00 EDM Glenn Anderson Holding 06:23 2:00 PHI Doug Crossman Roughing 06:23 2:00 EDM Randy Gregg Holding 09:51 2:00 PHI Brad Marsh Holding 12:13 2:00 PHI Ed Hospodar High-sticking 16:30 2:00 3rd EDM Don Jackson Roughing 04:29 2:00 PHI Rick Tocchet Slashing 04:29 2:00 EDM Don Jackson Hooking 13:47 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 8 4 14 26 17 12 12 41

Game two

Wayne Gretzky's first goal of the series late in the second period snapped a 1–1 tie, and Dave Hunter added an insurance empty-netter and the Oilers drew even in the series with a 3–1 win. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st EDM Wayne Gretzky (11) Paul Coffey (18) 10:29 1–0 EDM 2nd PHI Tim Kerr (10) Dave Poulin (4) and Lindsay Carson (3) 10:22 1–1 EDM Willy Lindstrom (4) Mike Krushelnyski (8) and Kevin McClelland (3) 16:08 2–1 EDM 3rd EDM Dave Hunter (2) – en Glenn Anderson (15) 19:33 3–1 EDM Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st EDM Paul Coffey Tripping 04:17 2:00 EDM Lee Fogolin High-sticking 06:03 2:00 EDM Dave Hunter Roughing 09:22 2:00 PHI Brad Marsh Roughing 09:22 2:00 PHI Tim Kerr Holding 15:16 2:00 EDM Esa Tikkanen Roughing 19:21 2:00 PHI Rick Tocchet Cross-checking 19:21 2:00 2nd EDM Dave Hunter Fighting – major 02:39 5:00 PHI Tim Kerr Fighting – major 02:39 5:00 PHI Rick Tocchet High-sticking 04:54 2:00 EDM Mike Krushelnyski Roughing 07:22 2:00 PHI Ed Hospodar Roughing 07:22 2:00 PHI Brad Marsh High-sticking 12:11 2:00 EDM Glenn Anderson Interference 13:35 2:00 EDM Lee Fogolin Cross-checking 17:58 2:00 PHI Miroslav Dvorak High-sticking 17:58 2:00 EDM Charlie Huddy Tripping 18:53 2:00 PHI Tim Kerr Cross-checking 19:51 2:00 3rd None Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 8 14 8 30 6 8 4 18

Game three

Gretzky almost single-handedly won Edmonton the game. He scored twice within the first 90 seconds of the game and finished off a hat trick by the end of the first period. Although the Oilers put only six shots on net over the final 40 minutes, it was enough to escape with a 4–3 win and 2–1 series lead. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st EDM Wayne Gretzky (12) Jari Kurri (4) and Paul Coffey (19) 01:10 1–0 EDM EDM Wayne Gretzky (13) Paul Coffey (20) and Charlie Huddy (13) 01:25 2–0 EDM PHI Derrick Smith (2) Doug Crossman (5) and Murray Craven (5) 01:41 2–1 EDM EDM Wayne Gretzky (14) Mark Messier (11) and Paul Coffey (21) 13:32 3–1 EDM 2nd EDM Mike Krushelnyski (4) – pp Paul Coffey (22) and Wayne Gretzsky (27) 06:58 4–1 EDM 3rd PHI Mark Howe (3) Rick Tocchet (3) and Brian Propp (10) 09:08 4–2 EDM PHI Brian Propp (7) Murray Craven (6) and Rick Tocchet (4) 14:26 4–3 EDM Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st PHI Ron Sutter Hooking 00:10 2:00 EDM Glenn Anderson High-sticking 00:56 2:00 EDM Mike Krushelnyski Roughing 03:32 2:00 EDM Don Jackson Roughing 03:32 2:00 PHI Rick Tocchet Roughing 03:32 2:00 PHI Ed Hospodar Roughing 03:32 2:00 PHI Murray Craven Interference 06:08 2:00 EDM Kevin McClelland High-sticking 09:58 2:00 PHI Brad Marsh High-sticking 09:58 2:00 EDM Glenn Anderson High-sticking 11:08 2:00 EDM Glenn Anderson Roughing 13:20 2:00 PHI Lindsay Carson Roughing 13:20 2:00 EDM Don Jackson Cross-checking 14:55 2:00 PHI Ed Hospodar Roughing 17:19 2:00 PHI Ron Sutter Elbowing 17:55 2:00 2nd EDM Dave Semenko Misconduct 03:27 10:00 PHI Ed Hospodar Misconduct 03:27 10:00 PHI Doug Crossman Hooking 06:01 2:00 EDM Dave Hunter Holding 07:45 2:00 EDM Lee Fogolin Charging 12:02 2:00 EDM Bench (served by Esa Tikkanen) Too many men on the ice 19:19 2:00 PHI Peter Zezel Interference 19:53 2:00 3rd EDM Dave Semenko Roughing – double minor 02:48 4:00 EDM Charlie Huddy Slashing 10:03 2:00 PHI Rich Sutter Cross-checking 10:03 2:00 PHI Ron Sutter Cross-checking 11:23 2:00 EDM Dave Hunter Misconduct 14:05 10:00 PHI Joe Paterson Misconduct 14:05 10:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 12 9 9 30 20 4 2 26

Game four

Unbowed, the Flyers leapt out to a 3–1 lead midway through the first period thanks to goals at even strength, on the power play and shorthanded. However, the Oilers roared back with four consecutive goals, including two from Gretzky, to win 5–3 and take a commanding series lead. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st PHI Rich Sutter (1) Ron Sutter (12) and Derrick Smith (2) 00:46 1–0 PHI EDM Paul Coffey (10) – pp Charlie Huddy (14) and Jari Kurri (8) 04:22 1–1 PHI Todd Bergen (4) – pp Peter Zezel (8) and Doug Crossman (6) 06:38 2–1 PHI PHI Murray Craven (4) – sh Derrick Smith (3) and Brad Marsh (6) 11:32 3–1 PHI EDM Charlie Huddy (3) – pp Paul Coffey (23) and Jari Kurri (9) 18:23 3–2 PHI 2nd EDM Glenn Anderson (10) Unassisted 00:21 3–3 EDM Wayne Gretzky (15) – pp Paul Coffey (24) and Charlie Huddy (15) 12:53 4–3 EDM 3rd EDM Wayne Gretzky (16) – pp Mark Messier (12) and Glenn Anderson (16) 03:42 5–3 EDM Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st PHI Dave Poulin High-sticking 03:31 2:00 EDM Pat Hughes High-sticking 05:17 2:00 EDM Mark Messier Slashing 05:59 2:00 PHI Doug Crossman Holding 08:32 2:00 PHI Doug Crossman Unsportsmanlike conduct 08:32 2:00 EDM Mark Messier Hooking 08:47 Penalty shot PHI Ed Hospodar Slashing 16:32 2:00 2nd EDM Lee Fogolin Roughing 00:48 2:00 PHI Rick Tocchet Roughing 00:48 2:00 PHI Joe Paterson Hooking 12:11 2:00 EDM Dave Hunter Roughing 17:39 2:00 PHI Ray Allison Slashing 17:39 2:00 EDM Kevin Lowe Holding 18:02 2:00 PHI Doug Crossman Holding 19:07 2:00 EDM Dave Hunter Holding 20:00 2:00 3rd PHI Ed Hospodar Hooking 02:46 2:00 EDM Dave Hunter Kneeing 07:58 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 10 6 7 23 10 12 10 32

Game five

Against backup goaltender Bob Froese, substituting for starter Pelle Lindbergh (who had been playing progressively less well over the course of the Final), the Oilers blitzed the Flyers with a four-goal first period and sailed to a convincing 8–3 win. Gretzky and Kurri posted a goal and three assists each, while Paul Coffey and Mark Messier scored two goals apiece. Edmonton won its second consecutive Stanley Cup while the Flyers, at the time the youngest team in professional sports, took the lessons from their loss into the clubs' next Stanley Cup Final; they lost again to the Oilers in , albeit in seven games. Wayne Gretzky won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, scoring a record 47 points this playoff year.