Florida Panthers Win Stanley Cup

     The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday night. The Panthers won the best-of-seven series 4-3 and avoided a memorable series collapse. 

     The Panthers won their first Stanley Cup title in franchise history. Florida completed their 30th season in the National Hockey League. 

     Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov became the first captain from Finland to lift the Stanley Cup. Oilers center Connor McDavid was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, even though his team lost in the Stanley Cup Final. 

     Florida took a 1-0 lead at the 4:27 mark of the first period. Evan Rodrigues released a shot from the left wing and Carter Verhaeghe redirected it from the crease area by Stuart Skinner for his 11th goal of the postseason. Anton Lundell was credited with a secondary assist on the play. 

     Edmonton tied it up 1-0 at 6:44 of the first. Cody Ceci sent a long lead pass ahead from his own zone. Mattias Janmark carried it from the Panthers blue line through the right circle on a breakaway and put in a forehand shot from the low slot past Sergei Bobrovsky for his fourth playoff goal. 

     In the second period, the Panthers moved ahead 2-1 with 4:49 remaining. Dmitry Kulikov steered the puck out of the blue paint. Verhaeghe made a diagonal pass from his own zone and Sam Reinhart skated with it down the right side of the neutral zone. He snapped a shot from the right circle for his second tally of the series and his 10th goal in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.