Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Florida Panthers Win Second Stanley Cup

     Sam Reinhart scored four goals as the Florida Panthers captured their second straight Stanley Cup title against the Edmonton Oilers with a 5-1 victory in Game 6 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday night. Sam Bennett was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Aleksander Barkov became the first European-born player to captain two Stanley Cup championship teams. The Panthers defeated the Oilers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final inside the same venue last year. 
     The Panthers became the 10th franchise in NHL history to win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles. Florida reached their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final this year. The last team to capture consecutive Stanley Cup titles was the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021. 
     The Oilers became the first team to lose back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances since the Boston Bruins in 1977 and 1978. Edmonton was looking for their first Stanley Cup championship since 1990. A Canadian-based club has not won a Stanley Cup title since the Montreal Canadiens accomplished in 1993. 
     Florida got out to a 1-0 lead at the 4:36 mark of the first period. Evan Bouchard turned the puck over outside the Oilers blue line. Reinhart skated down the left side, went around Mattias Ekholm above the left circle and snapped a shot from the inner left circle by Stuart Skinner for his for his eighth goal of the playoffs. Reinhart now has a four-game goal streak. The Cats scored the first goal for the fifth consecutive game of the series. 
     The Panthers increased it to 2-0 with 46.4 seconds left in the first. Anton Lundell touched the puck at his own blue line. Eetu Luostarinen carried it through the neutral zone to the top right circle and angled a pass. Matthew Tkachuk released a wrist shot from the high slot for his eighth postseason goal. Florida has scored at least two first period goals in every game of the Stanley Cup Final. The Cats have outscored the Oilers 9-0 in the opening frame over the past four games. 
     In the second period, the Cats made it a three-goal margin 3-0 with 2:29 to go. Carter Verhaeghe brought the puck from the right corner and shot it from the right wing which was saved. Barkov made a slap pass from the left circle and it went off the left skate of Reinhart in the blue paint for his second tally of the contest and his ninth playoff goal. 
     Edmonton pulled Skinner for an extra attacker with 7:00 remaining in the third period. It did not work as Reinhart picked up a hat trick with 6:34 left and made it 4-0. Verhaeghe sent a square pass at the red line to Barkov. He zipped a diagonal pass from the center-ice circle and Reinhart flicked in a shot from the blue line. 
     The Oilers pulled their goalie again with 5:54 to go. Reinhart scored his fourth goal of the game with 5:05 left in the third and gave the Panthers a 5-0 lead. Aaron Ekblad pushed the puck ahead deep in his own zone and Verhaeghe made a lead pass. Reinhart shot the puck from the neutral zone for his 11th goal in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. Reinhart became the sixth player in NHL history to score at least four goals in a Stanley Cup Final game. 
     Edmonton closed it to 5-1 with 4:42 remaining in the third period. Connor Brown passed from the left wing and Jake Walman fired a one-time slap shot from the left point that was saved by Sergei Bobrovsky. Vasily Podkolzin scored his third postseason tally on a backhand shot from the top of the crease.

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