*Photo from the Miami Herald*
Florida wins series 4-3
Collapse, and crisis, averted. Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist, Sam Reinhart scored the game winning goal, and the Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers with a 2-1 victory Monday night in Sunrise.
1996 saw them swept by the Colorado Avalanche. Last season saw them run out of gas as the underdogs and cut down by the Vegas Golden Knights. In their 30th year and 3rd trip to the Stanley Cup Final, they are champions now, for the first time in franchise history.
Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk said of winning the cup "It’s not a dream anymore. It’s not a dream. It’s reality. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe how good these two years have been. So thankful for this group of guys. It’s the best place, best guys. It’s something really special here with what we have."
This win didn't come without some major concern in the series. They had jumped out to a 3-0 series lead, with the Oilers on the ropes entering game 4. Then came the comeback, with the Oilers rattling off 3 straight wins to force this all the way to a game 7. The 1942 Detroit Red Wings were the only team to lose a cup final after holding a 3-0 series lead. With the Panthers avoiding joining them, Detroit still stands alone.
It was the Panthers who jumped out to the lead first in this one. Verhaeghe opened the scoring 4:27 into the game, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead with help from Anton Lundell and Evan Rodrigues. Mattias Janmark scored 2:17 later for the Oilers, tying the game 1-1 with Cody Ceci assisting on his 4th goal of the playoffs.
Come the second period, the Panthers broke the deadlock for good. At the 15:11 mark of the period, Reinhart broke the tie with his 10th goal of the playoffs. Verhaeghe and Dmitry Kulikov got the assists on what became the Stanley Cup winning goal.
Florida head coach Paul Maurice said of the win that "They played with freedom and that's what I'm going to remember from this game. The story gets written differently if we don't win, but under the most pressure they found the courage to play with some freedom, to make plays, to move the puck. They get to say, 'In Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, I was at my best.'"
Sergei Bobrovsky got the win in goal in the biggest game of the season for the Panthers. After posting a 5.06 GAA and .793 save percentage in games 4 through 6, Bobrovsky stopped all but one of the 24 shots the Oilers sent his way, good for a sparkling .958 save percentage.
In goal for the Oilers, Stuart Skinner had a strong game as he had for the previous 3 games but was ultimately outdueled by Bobrovsky. Skinner turned aside 19 out of the 21 shots on goal that the Panthers tested him with, recording a .905 save percentage.
Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl said of coming up one win short of the title that "It's tough to put into words right now. You’re one period, one shot away from maybe winning the thing and now you have to go through 82 regular-season games and play well enough to get another kick at it. It's hard right now."
With the cup awarded, the focus of the league turns to the NHL Draft at the end of the week and NHL free agency, set to open at noon eastern time Monday.
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