Stanley Cup Final: The Panthers win a thrilling Game 7 over the Oilers to secure their first championship in franchise history

Stanley Cup Final: The Panthers win a thrilling Game 7 over the Oilers to secure their first championship in franchise history

For the first time in history, the Florida Panthers became Stanley Cup champions.

Florida won a 2-1 thriller in Game 7 Monday night over the Edmonton Oilers to secure a straight-set 4-3 win in the Stanley Cup Final. The win averted a historic collapse after the Oilers rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie the series at 3-3.

After allowing 18 goals in two straight losses in Games 4-6, Florida’s defense returned to form on Monday night anchored by a stellar performance from goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who turned away 23 of 24 Edmonton shots, including a late Oilers flurry that threatened to tie the game. the match. .

Edmonton’s Connor McDavid was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the entire Stanley Cup playoffs despite his team’s loss. He is the sixth player in NHL history to win the award from a losing team and the first since Jean-Sébastien Giguere of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2003. He is the second skater ever to win in a losing effort, joining Philadelphia’s Reggie Leach in 1976. Releases.

McDavid led the playoffs with 42 points and set an NHL record previously held by Wayne Gretzky with 34 assists in a playoff game. But the Panthers stifled McDavid and the rest of the Oilers in a decisive Game 7 on Monday.

Florida fans rained down boos on Conn Smythe’s announcement, but they found plenty of reasons to cheer when Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time in his 11 seasons with the franchise.

The first half got off to a strong start. The Panthers got their first power play of the game on a high-sticking penalty kick by Warren Foegele less than three minutes later. It did not immediately turn into a power play goal, but Florida player Carter Verhaeghe broke the scoreless tie seconds after it ended.

Just as Edmonton returned to full strength, Florida’s Ivan Rodriguez fired a slap shot off the left wall that missed the right net. But Verheeghe hit the ball out of the air with his stick and sneaked it past Stuart Skinner, giving Florida a 1-0 lead.

The goal with 15:33 left in the period gave Florida its first lead in the series since it closed out Game 3 with a 4-3 win. It was short-lived.

Just 2:17 later, Edmonton’s Matthias Janmark tied the game with a breakaway goal off a nifty pass from Cody Ceci.

After a Florida turnover, Ceci corralled the puck behind Edmonton’s goal line and then fired it up the ice through three Florida defenders. Janmark received the pass in front of the Florida blue line and attacked the net without being intercepted by any defender. He feinted Bobrovsky and sent a wrist shot into the left side of the net.

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The goal tied the game at 1-1 and continued a trend that had plagued the Panthers as the Oilers rallied to tie the series from a 3-0 deficit. The goal was Edmonton’s fifth straight on a series of breakaway chances. It turned out to be the latter.

Edmonton’s chances dried up as the game entered the second half tied at 1-1. The Oilers controlled the ball for most of the second, but struggled to turn that control into scoring opportunities. More than 15 minutes after the end of the first half, the Panthers turned the scoring opportunity that the Oilers had into an opportunity of their own.

Voegele threatened the Oilers’ 2-1 lead with a shot from the right goal line over a crowded net. But Florida’s Dmitry Kulikov cleared the ball away, and the Panthers secured it to start the offense. Center Sam Reinhart took advantage at the other end with a quick shot from the right wing that found the back of the net for a 2-1 lead for the Panthers, sending the excited Florida fans into a frenzy.

The second period ended without any other goal, and the Panthers entered the third period, with history on their side. Teams leading Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final after two periods have won 13 times in the previous 14 opportunities. The Panthers have won 25 straight games when leading after two games.

Sam Reinhart celebrates the Stanley Cup-winning goal in the second period.  (Peter Gonnelett/Sportswire Icon via Getty Images)

Sam Reinhart celebrates the Stanley Cup-winning goal in the second period. (Peter Gonnelett/Sportswire Icon via Getty Images)

Bobrovsky and Florida’s defense ensured the Panthers wouldn’t break that trend. The unit that decided the series en route to a 3-0 lead was back in control. The Panthers looked sparingly for McDavid and continued to keep All-Star Leon Draisaitl (zero goals in the Stanley Cup Final) in check throughout most of the third period.

McDavid’s best scoring opportunity then came with 7:05 left in the game. But he lost control of the ball right in front of the net, and the Oilers failed to get past Bobrovsky.

Edmonton piled the pressure on Bobrovsky in the final minutes of regulation, but was unable to break through despite several late chances.

The Oilers unsuccessfully pulled Skinner in the final moments of the game. Florida kept its Stanley Cup championship celebration on home ice. The win denied the Oilers a chance to win Canada’s first title since the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1993.

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Florida was the more physical team in Game 7 as they tallied 30 hits to Edmonton’s 19. The Panthers held a 17-13 advantage on blocked shots and a 12-7 advantage on takeaways. It was a fitting end for a Panthers team that allowed the fewest goals in the league during the regular season.

The win is the first in three trips to the Stanley Cup Final for the Panthers 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 made a comeback last season, their first under coach Paul Morris, but fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games. The championship is Morris’s first in his 26 seasons as an NHL head coach.

The Panthers haven’t had any kind of hangover this season after a long playoff run in 2023. They improved with 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 knocked off the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games and the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers in six games to reach the Cup Final against the Oilers. Now they were Stanley Cup champions for the first time.

Game 1: Panthers 3, Oilers 0
Game 2: Panthers 4, Oilers 1
Game 3: Panthers 4, Oilers 3
Game 4: Oilers 8, Panthers 1
Game 5: Oilers 5, Panthers 3
Game 6: Oilers 5, Panthers 1
Game 7: Panthers 2, Oilers 1

Live coverage has ended37 updates

  • Aleksandar Barkov is the first player to lift the Stanley Cup for the Florida Panthers, handing it to Sergei Bobrovsky.

  • Connor McDavid wins the Conn Smythe Trophy

  • “It’s not a dream anymore,” Matthew Tkachuk said after the game on ESPN. “It’s a reality.”

  • The celebration begins in Florida.

  • The Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup!

    It is the first trophy in franchise history for the Panthers.

  • Via NHL Stats: There were 14 tying goals in the final 10 minutes of Any potential Stanley Cup clinching game (last: Pat Maroon at 53:48). Game 4 of the 2021 SCF). The most recent was by Maple Leafs forward Todd Sloan (59:28 in The fifth match of the 1951 SCF).

  • The Oilers can’t capitalize on a stunning opportunity in front of the net.

  • The Oilers’ penalty kill did its job, denying the Panthers a high penalty kick by Evan Bouchard on Eto Luostarinen.

  • Via NHL Stats: There have only been two game-tying goals in the third period of Game 7 in Stanley Cup Final history: by Sweeney Schreiner at 7:47 of the third period for the 1942 Maple Leafs and by Murray Armstrong at 8:16. From the third period of the 1945 Red Wings. Schreiner’s 1942 Maple Leafs won, while Armstrong’s 1945 Red Wings lost — both in series that were forced into a seventh game after one team took a 3-0 lead.

  • According to NHL statistics, teams leading in the third period of Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final are 13-1 all-time.

  • End of second period: Panthers 2, Oilers 1

    The Panthers now lead thanks to a Sam Reinhart goal late in the second period, and Florida holds the advantage over the Oilers 17-15 in shots on goal.

  • The Panthers lead 2-1

    After some great control from Edmonton, the Panthers’ Sam Reinhart gave his team the advantage with less than five minutes left in the second period.

  • Edmonton goes on a power play after a questionable tripping call on Tkachuk, but they ultimately come up empty.

  • End of the first half: Oilers tied 1-1

    The Panthers’ Carter Verhaeghe struck first to put the home team ahead, but the Oilers’ Mattias Janmark had an answer just a few minutes later to knot things up at 1. Florida has a slight advantage in shots on goal over Edmonton, 7-6. This is where We sit in it at the end of the first period.

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