The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 Monday night to capture the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup championship.
The title is the first in the 30-year history of the Panthers.
Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe opened the scoring with a goal less than five minutes into the game.
Edmonton center Mattias Janmark responded two minutes later to even the score at 1-1.
The difference in the game came in late in the second period as Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov combined to stop a strong Edmonton scoring chance, and in an ensuing rush up the ice Florida’s Sam Reinhart scored to give the Panthers the 2-1 advantage.
The best-of-seven series initially looked like it would be a quick win for Florida after it captured the first three games.
But Edmonton rallied back, winning three consecutive games in dominant fashion while outscoring Florida 18-5.
The Panthers’ Game 7 win denied the Oilers the chance to be just the second team to ever win a Stanley Cup after losing the first three games of the series, and to become the first Canadian team to win since 1993.
Despite the loss, Edmonton’s star Connor McDavid was given the Conn Smythe Trophy for being the most valuable player of the entire playoffs.
