The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of the NHL Finals on Monday to officially win the Stanley Cup, holding off a near historic comeback from the Oilers in the process.
Florida got out to an early 3-0 series lead to make its eventual victory seem like a foregone conclusion, but three straight wins by Edmonton resulted in the most anticipated matchup of the entire season.
Edmonton had an opportunity to become just the second team in NHL history to come back from a 0-3 deficit in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Toronto Maple Leafs are the only team to have accomplished the feat with a comeback win in the 1942 Finals, per CBS Sports.
However, the Panthers jumped out to an early lead in Game 7 following a goal by forward Carter Verhaeghe less than five minutes into the action, with the Oilers responding soon after as forward Mattias Janmark flipped the puck past Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky just minutes later as the team went into the first intermission tied 1-1.
Florida again secured the lead near the end of the second period, with forward Sam Reinhart scoring after 15 minutes of action to give the Panther a 2-1 lead. Neither team managed another goal for the remainder of the game.
Panthers forward Sam Bennett said after the game that his team has “always done it the hard way,” adding that it did not matter whether they won in four games or seven and that he was just happy to bring the Stanley Cup to Florida.
“We’ve always done the hard things. I don’t think it makes it any sweeter, but it’s just no surprise that this group did it the hardest way we could,” he said, according to The Washington Post.
Despite forcing a Game 7, the Oilers’ loss continues the long-running drought of Canadian teams in the NHL failing to win the Stanley Cup.
Over the last 30 years, Canadian NHL teams have gone a combined 0-7 in the Stanley Cup finals, with five of those losses coming in a Game 7, according to StatMuse.
The last team from Canada to win the Stanley Cup finals was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
Winning the Stanley Cup has become one of the most memorable moments of multiple Panthers players’ lives, with defenseman Aaron Ekblad saying shortly after the victory that it was something he will never forget.
“This is the best moment of my life so far,” exclaimed the 10-year veteran, per CBS News. “Nothing tops it.”
Reinhart also spoke about the moment after the game and said he has never felt something similar, seemingly having no words to describe the victory.
“It’s incredible,” he said, per The Washington Post. “I mean, that definitely hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s incredible.”
The conclusion of this series means that the NHL offseason is officially underway, with the Dallas Stars already seeing multiple changes to the team in recent weeks.
Forward Joe Pavelski announced his expected retirement from the league shortly after losing to the Oilers in the Western Conference Finals, while the Stars also announced a trade to send forward Ty Dellandrea to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a future fourth-round pick.
