SUNRISE, Fla. — Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots as the Florida Panthers held on to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.
The Panthers clinched their first Stanley Cup title in their fourth attempt since joining the NHL for the 1993-94 season. It looked as though Florida was going to cruise their way the title after taking a 3-0 lead in the series, but the Oilers won three straight to force the Game 7. They avoided becoming the first team since 1942 to lose four straight potential clinching games in the finals.
"To become a true champion you have to overcome adversity, and that was the moment you have to get together and get the job done," Bobrovsky said. "We weren't afraid to make a mistake. We played with freedom. We attacked."
Florida coach Paul Maurice finally won a Stanley Cup championship after coaching the most games in NHL history before his first title with 1,985. He also improved to 5-0 in Game 7 for his NHL career.
The Oilers lone goal came from Mattias Janmark and Stuart Skinner made 19 saves in the losing effort. Connor McDavid, who led the NHL with 42 points (eight goals, 34 assists) in the playoffs, was left blank on the scoresheet. Leon Draisaitl struggled in the series as well, being limited to no goals and three assists.
Despite the loss, McDavid still won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs. He is the sixth player to win it while playing for the losing team.
It was the first time since 1945 that a Stanley Cup Final went the distance after a team took a 3-0 lead. That season, the Detroit Red Wings won Games 4, 5 and 6 to tie the Final before losing 2-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7.
Edmonton nearly became the first Canada-based team win the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens did in 1993.
"It's tough to put into words right now," Draisaitl said. "You’re one period, one shot away from maybe winning the thing and now you have to go through 82 regular-season games and play well enough to get another kick at it. It's hard right now."
Verhaeghe got the Panthers on the board first at 4:27 of the first period, just six seconds after their power play expired. It was the first time that the Panthers had scored the first goal of the game since Game 3.
The Panthers never trailed.
Verhaeghe played the puck from behind the net to Evan Rodrigues along the left wall, allowing Rodrigues to fire a shot from there to the net. It looked like the puck was going sail wide right, but Verhaeghe got his stick on it in front and deflected it down and through Skinner's legs.
It was Verhaeghe's first goal since Game 1 and the first time Florida had led since Game 3.
The Oilers struck back quickly with Janmark scoring on a breakaway to even the score at 6:44.
Reinhart made it 2-1 at 15:11 in the second period with a low, short-side shot from just inside the right circle.
The scoring play started when Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov cleared the puck away from the Panthers crease before falling into the net. The puck was sent up to Verhaeghe, who passed it along to Reinhart.
Reinhart looked to around to make a pass as he went through the neutral zone and across the blue line, but decided to shoot. The puck managed find its way past Skinner to give Florida its second lead of the game.
McDavid and Zach Hyman each got an empty net look and a chance to tie the game with just over seven minutes left in the third period. But neither got enough of the puck.
Edmonton brought Skinner to the bench for the extra skater with 1:10 left, but the Oilers never got another shot off.
The Panthers froze the puck in the corner for the last six seconds to win the Stanley Cup.
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