The Florida Panthers made history Monday night in front of more than 19,000 fans at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 to win their first Stanley Cup.
As expected, Game 7 was a hard-fought match, with both teams going against each other throughout the game.
Panthers’ Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe scored goals, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves.
Wilfredo Lee / AP
This time they were on the right side of history – having avoided a historic collapse. The Panthers won the first three games of the series, then lost the next three and needed a win Monday to avoid joining the 1942 Detroit Red Wings as the only teams to lose the finals after a 3-0 to have taken the lead in the title round.
It wasn’t easy. Not even close. But it’s done. It took until the end for the Panthers to deny Connor McDavid his first title, and Edmonton what would have been its first Cup since 2006.
CBS News Miami cameras captured images of fans at viewing parties across South Florida cheering and hollering for every goal scored.
This year marked the third time the Panthers played for the Stanley Cup. In 2023 the Cats fell to the Golden Knights and in 1996 the Year of the Ratto the avalanche.
Panthers fans had to wait three long decades to reach this moment. It took 30 seasons, 457 different players, 18 different coaches, about two decades of irrelevance, rumors of downsizing, rumors of relocation, and who knows how many more bad nights would follow.
The Cats and their fans suffered in this series, but in the end they won the cup through sheer effort in their building.
Mattias Janmark scored the goal for Edmonton and Stuart Skinner stopped 19 shots for the Oilers. The Oilers also couldn’t break Canada’s title drought; it’s 1993 and counting since a team from Canada won the cup.
Montreal was the last to do this, thirty seasons ago. Since then, there have been seven attempts by teams from Canadian cities – Vancouver in 1994 and 2011, Calgary in 2004, the Oilers in 2006, Ottawa in 2007 and the Canadiens in 2021 – to win titles, and all were in vain.
South Florida now has it all when it comes to titles from the four major professional sports leagues in the US. The Miami Dolphins were two-time champions, the then-Florida Marlins were two-time champions, the Miami Heat have three titles and now the Panthers have joined the party.
Welcome, Stanley. The Panthers waited. Maurice hoisted the cup near the bench, closed his eyes tightly to control the emotion, and let out a scream. General manager Bill Zito didn’t even bother to keep the shout out. And in the stands, Matthew Tkachuk’s family — his father, Keith, has never won a Cup — savored the moment, knowing their last name will soon be Lord Stanley.
“This is for them,” Tkachuk said.
Bobrovsky was as cool as could be, even in his biggest moments. Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard had a good view from the right circle with about 14 seconds left in the second period; Bobrovsky blocked the shot and the puck bounced off him and into the air.
No problem. Bobrovsky picked up his stick and knocked the puck away again, more like he was playing morning pickleball in a park than in the biggest game of his life — literally the last line of defense against the Oilers, and against a piece of history the Panthers desperately fought to avoid.
Florida topped the NHL at 44-0-3 on Monday as it led after two periods this season. Also an NHL-best 85-2-6 in that situation in the two seasons under coach Maurice.
They slammed the door for the last time. And the cup was their reward.
“This is the best moment of my life so far,” said veteran Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. “There’s nothing like it.”
