The Florida Panthers on Monday defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 to win the Stanley Cup for the first time as Canada’s 31-year title drought continued.
Goals from Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart sealed a 4-3 series victory for the Panthers against an Oilers outfit who had rallied from 3-0 down in the series to force a decisive Game 7.
“I’ve been chasing that for a long time,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “It was perfect Florida Panther fashion — nothing’s easy. Nothing’s easy for us.”
Photo: Sam Navarro-USA Today
Edmonton had been bidding to become the first team from Canada since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993 to win the NHL championship.
The Oilers were also attempting to become only the second team in NHL history to overturn a 3-0 deficit to win the Stanley Cup, but the Panthers — beaten by Las Vegas in last year’s Stanley Cup Final — were in no mood to let victory slip away for a second straight year.
Roared on by their home fans at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, the Panthers surged into the lead after only 4 minutes, 27 seconds of the opening period.
Right wing Evan Rodrigues smashed a shot from wide on the left and Verhaeghe was on hand in the goalmouth to tip in past Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner.
Edmonton silenced the home fans soon afterward with a superb equalizer.
Cody Ceci’s long pass split the Florida defense and was collected by Mattias Janmark, who glided toward the Panthers net and coolly tucked away a finish past Florida’s Russian goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
Florida regained the lead in the second period after a breathless passage of play that started with defender Dmitry Kulikov desperately shoveling away the puck on the goal-line to prevent a certain Oilers score.
Florida’s Sam Reinhart gathered, swept up the wing and let rip with a long-range snap shot that flew past Skinner for the score.
Sam Bennett almost made it 3-1 to Florida in the third period only to be denied by a brilliant Skinner save.
As the tension mounted, the Oilers laid siege to the Florida goal and only some last-ditch defending kept Edmonton at bay.
Relieved Panthers star player Rodrigues said Florida had been relaxed going into the decider.
“They say this is the hardest trophy to win in sports, and you can’t imagine how hard it is until you do it, but getting to Game 7, it took pressure off of us, and we did it the hard way ... it was a perfect outcome,” Rodrigues said.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS