For the first time in history, the Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup champions.
Florida won a 2-1 Game 7 thriller on Monday night over the Edmonton Oilers to secure a 4-3 series victory in the Stanley Cup Final. The win staved off a historic collapse after the Oilers rallied from a 3-0 series deficit to tie the series at 3-3.
After allowing 18 goals in consecutive losses in Games 4-6, Florida's defense returned to form Monday night anchored by a stellar performance from goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who turned back 23 of 24 Edmonton shots, including a late Oilers flurry that threatened to tie the game.
Connor McDavid wins Conn Smythe in losing effort
Edmonton's Connor McDavid secured the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the entire Stanley Cup playoffs despite his team's loss. He's the sixth player in NHL history to win the award from a losing team and the first since Jean-Sebastien Giguere of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2003. He's the second skater to ever win in a losing effort, joining Reggie Leach from the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers.
McDavid led the playoffs with 42 points and set an NHL record previously held by Wayne Gretzky with 34 playoff assists. But the Panthers stifled McDavid and the rest of the Oilers offense in Monday's decisive Game 7.
The Florida home crowd rained down boos upon the Conn Smythe announcement, but found plenty of reason to cheer when Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time in his 11 seasons with the franchise.
The first period got off to a scorching start. The Panthers secured the game's first power play on a high-sticking penalty by Warren Foegele less than three minutes in. It didn't directly convert to a power-play goal, but Florida's Carter Verhaeghe broke the scoreless tie seconds after it ended.
Just as Edmonton went back to full strength, Florida's Evan Rodrigues fired a slap shot from the left wall that missed the net wide right. But Verhaeghe knocked the puck from the air with his stick and snuck it past Stuart Skinner for a 1-0 Florida lead.
The goal with 15:33 left in the period gave Florida its first lead of the series since it finished Game 3 with a 4-3 win. It was short-lived.
Oilers answer
Just 2:17 later, Edmonton's Mattias Janmark tied the game on a breakaway goal on a sensational assist from Cody Ceci.
After a Florida turnover, Ceci corralled the puck behind the Edmonton goal line then fired it up ice through three Florida defenders. Janmark secured the pass ahead of the Florida blue line and attacked the net without a defender in his way. He deked Bobrovsky and sent a wrist shot into the left side of the net.
The goal tied the game at 1-1 and piled on to a trend that plagued the Panthers as the Oilers rallied to tie the series from a 3-0 deficit. The goal was the fifth straight for Edmonton in the series on breakaway opportunities. It turned out to be its last.
Florida's defense takes over, sets up series winner
Edmonton's opportunities dried up as the game went into the second period tied at 1-1. The Oilers controlled the puck through much of the second, but struggled to convert that control into scoring chances. Then, 15-plus minutes into the period, the Panthers turned an Oilers scoring opportunity into one of their own.
Foegele threatened a 2-1 Oilers lead with a shot from the right goal line on a crowded net. But Florida's Dmitry Kulikov poked the puck away, and the Panthers secured it to go on the attack. Center Sam Reinhart converted the opportunity on the other end with a slapshot from the right wing that found the back of the net 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 Final after two periods had won 13 times in 14 previous chances. The Panthers had won 25 straight games when leading after two.
Bobrovsky sends back late Oilers onslaught
Bobrovsky and Florida's defense ensured that the Panthers wouldn't break the trend. A unit that defined the series en route to a 3-0 lead was back in control. The Panthers limited looks for McDavid and continued to keep All-Star Leon Draisaitl (zero goals in Stanley Cup Final) in check throughout much of the third period.
Then McDavid's best scoring chance arrived 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 it past Bobrovsky.
Edmonton ramped up the pressure on Bobrovsky in the final minutes of regulation, but couldn't break through despite multiple late chances.
The Oilers pulled Skinner in the game's final moments to no avail. Florida held on to celebrate a Stanley Cup championship on home ice. The win denied a chance for the Oilers to claim Canada's first title since the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1993.
Florida was the more physical team in Game 7 while tallying 30 hits against Edmonton's 19. The Panthers secured a 17-13 edge in blocked shots and a 12-7 advantage in takeaways. It was a fitting finish for a Panthers team that allowed the fewest goals in the league during the regular season.
Panthers break through after 30 seasons
The win is the first in three trips to the Stanley Cup Final for the Panthers since their 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 made it back last season, the first under head coach Paul Maurice, but fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games. The championship is the first for Maurice in his 26 seasons as a head coach in the NHL.
The Panthers didn't experience any sort of hangover this season after a long 2023 playoff run. They improved by 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're Stanley Cup champions for the first time.
2024 Stanley Cup Final (Panthers win series 4-3)
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
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