For the first time in history, the Florida Panthers became Stanley Cup champions.
Florida edged the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in the Stanley Cup Final with a 2-1 Game 7 thriller. The win halted a historic slump after the Oilers rallied from a 3-0 series deficit to tie the series 3-3.
After allowing 18 goals in back-to-back losses in Games 4-6, Florida’s defense was anchored Monday night by a stellar performance from goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Bobrowski turned away 23 of 24 Edmonton shots, including a late Oilers flurry that threatened to tie the game.
Edmonton’s McDavid won the Conn Smith Trophy as the most valuable player in the entire Stanley Cup playoffs despite his team losing. He became the sixth player in NHL history to win the award from a losing team and the first since Jean-Sébastien Giguier of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2003.
The Panthers suffocated McDavid and the rest of the Oilers defense in a decisive Game 7 on Monday.
The first period got off to a brisk start. The Panthers secured their first power play of the game on Warren Fogell’s maximum penalty less than three minutes into the game. It didn’t directly turn into a power-play goal, but Florida’s Carter Verhake broke the scoreless tie seconds later.
Just as Edmonton came back at full strength, Florida’s Ivan Rodriguez fired a slapshot off the left wall that missed the right net. But Verhaek knocked the puck out of the air with his stick and past Stewart Skinner for a 1-0 Florida lead.
Florida took its first lead of the series with 15:33 left in Game 3, 4-3. It was short lived.
Oilers are the answer
Just 2:17 later, Edmonton’s Matthias Janmark tied the game on a breakaway goal off a sensational assist from Cody Ceci.
After a Florida turnover, Ceci corralled the puck behind the Edmonton goal line and then blasted it up the ice through three Florida defenders. Janmark defended the pass in front of the Florida blue line and hit the net without a defender in his way. He beat Bobrovsky and sent a wrist shot into the left side of the net.
The goal tied the game at 1-1 and capped a trend that plagued the Panthers as the Oilers rallied from a 3-0 deficit to even the series. The goal was Edmonton’s fifth in a series of breakaway chances. It turned out to be its last.
Florida’s defense takes over, setting up the series winner
Edmonton’s chances dried up as the game went into the second period tied 1-1. The Oilers controlled most of the second, but struggled to convert that control into scoring opportunities. Then 15-plus minutes later, the Panthers turned the Oilers’ scoring opportunity into one of their own.
Fogele threatened a 2-1 Oilers lead with a shot from the right goal line into the crowded net. But Florida’s Dmitri Kulikov fumbled the puck and the Panthers defended it on offense. Center Sam Reinhart converted the opportunity at the other end with a slapshot from the right wing that found Nigarin behind for a 2-1 Panthers lead, sending an eager Florida home crowd into a frenzy.
The second period ended without another goal, and the Panthers entered the third period with history on their side. Teams leading Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals had previously won 13 of 14 chances. The Panthers have won 25 straight games when leading after two.
Bobrovsky returns a late Oiler attack
Bobrovsky and Florida’s defense made sure the Panthers couldn’t break the trend. A 3-0 series-defining unit regained control. The Panthers’ limited appearance for Connor McDavid kept All-Star Leon Dryside in check throughout much of the third period.
Then came McDavid’s best scoring opportunity with 7:05 left in the game. But he lost control of the puck directly in front of the net, and the Oilers failed to get past Bobrovsky.
Edmonton increased the pressure on Bobrovsky in the final minutes or regulation, but was unable to get past the Florida goaltender on multiple opportunities.
But even after pulling Skinner in the final minutes of the game, Edmonton was unable to tie the game.
Leopards break after 30 seasons
The win was the Panthers’ first three trips to the Stanley Cup Finals since the team’s inception in 1993-94. They first played for the Cup in 1996, their third year in the NHL, but were swept by the Colorado Avalanche. They returned last season for the first time under head coach Paul Morris, but fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.
The Panthers aren’t experiencing any kind of hangover this season after a long 2023 playoff run. They won the Atlantic Division title with 10 wins and 18 points and finished third in the Eastern Conference during the regular season.
In the playoffs, the Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games, the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers in six games to reach the Cup Final against the Oilers. Now, for the first time in franchise history, they are Stanley Cup champions.
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