The Florida Panthers became the Stanley Cup champions for the first time in history.
Florida won a thrilling Game 7 on Monday, beating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1. The win capped a historic collapse in which the Oilers came back from a 3-0 series deficit to tie the series 3-3.
The first period started with a bang. The Panthers got the first power play of the game on a high-sticking penalty by Warren Foegele with less than three minutes remaining. It didn't convert directly into a power-play goal, but Florida's Carter Verhaeghe broke the scoreless tie just seconds after the match ended.
As Edmonton came back up to full strength, Florida's Evan Rodrigues hit a slapshot off the left wall that missed the far right side of the net. But Verhaeghe plucked the puck out of the air with his stick and put it past Stewart Skinner to give Florida a 1-0 lead.
The goal with 15:33 minutes left in the period gave Florida its first lead of the series since it ended up winning Game 3, 4-3. That lead was short-lived.
Just 2:17 later, Edmonton's Mattias Janmark tied the game with a brilliant goal off a Cody Cecily assist.
After a Florida turnover, Ceci corralled the puck behind the Edmonton goal line and then slid it up the ice between three Florida defenders. Janmark received a pass beyond the Florida blue line and charged the net with no defenders in his path. He dodged Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and fired a wrist shot into the left side of the net.
The goal tied the game at 1–1 and continued a trend that had plagued the Panthers, as the Oilers rallied from a 3–0 deficit to even the series. The goal was Edmonton's fifth consecutive goal on breakaway opportunities in the series.
Florida's defense takes charge
But those chances dried up after the game was tied 1-1 in the second period. The Oilers maintained control of the puck in the second period, but struggled to convert that control into scoring chances. Then with just over 15 minutes left in the second period, the Panthers turned an Oilers scoring opportunity into one of their own.
Foegele threatened to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead with a shot from the right goal line into a crowded net. But Florida's Dmitry Kulikov pushed the puck away and the Panthers secured it and began attacking. Center Sam Reinhart capitalized on the opportunity on the other end with a slapshot from the right wing that went into the back of the net to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead, sending Florida's eager home crowd into a frenzy.
The second period ended goalless, and the Panthers entered the third period with history on their side. Teams leading in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals had won 13 of the 14 previous times. The Panthers had won 25 consecutive games when leading after two.
Florida's defense made sure the Panthers wouldn't break the trend. A unit that had defined the series on its way to a 3-0 lead was in control again. The Panthers continued to limit opportunities for Connor McDavid and kept All-Star Leon Draisaitl in check.
McDavid's best scoring chance came with 7:05 left in the game, but he lost control of the puck right in front of the net and the Oilers failed to clear Bobrovsky.
Edmonton turned up the pressure on Bobrovsky in the final minutes but couldn't get a foothold on the Florida goaltender, allowing the Panthers to force a thrilling Game 7.
Panthers achieve success after 30 seasons
The win is the Panthers' first of three trips to the Stanley Cup Finals since their debut 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 came back last season, the first under head coach Paul Maurice, but lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.
The Panthers faced no trouble this season after a long-term playoff berth in 2023. They improved to 10 wins and 18 points to win the Atlantic Division title and finish third in the Eastern Conference during the regular season.
In the playoffs, the Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games and the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers in six games to reach the Cup Finals against the Oilers. Now, for the first time in franchise history, they are Stanley Cup champions.
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