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. .

Connor McDavid defeated Conn Smythe in a loss effort

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.

The Oilers answer

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.

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.

Florida’s defense takes over, deciding who wins the series

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 Dmitri 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 14 previous opportunities. The Panthers have won 25 straight games when leading after two games.

Bobrovsky brings back the Oilers’ late attack

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.

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 Panthers are breaking through after 30 seasons

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.

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