CNN
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For the second year in a row, the Florida Panthers conquered the Edmonton Oilers and lifted the Stanley Cup as king of the NHL.
Both of the Panthers’ back-to-back crowns come at the expense of the Oilers. This time we’ll be playing six games after last year’s seven-game Classic Series. After three consecutive appearances in the Stanley Cup final, Florida officially achieved dynasty status.
With a 5-1 clinching victory in Game 6 on Tuesday night, the victory over the Oilers this year came 357 days after their final cup-packed victory.
A crowd of noisy homes chanted “We want a cup,” and behind them, with the prospect of a 2,500-mile trip approaching Edmonton, the Panthers jumped at the opportunity to win a cup on their home ice.
The Panthers veteran center trio was a whole series difference.
Brad Merchand and Sam Bennett played heroes in the early games of the series, scoring 15 league-leading goals in the playoffs, scoring a total of 22 points, then earning Conte Smaystrophy as playoff MVP, and was the night of 11 years of veteran Sam Reinhart.
Reinhart began scoring in his first period with sensational personal efforts. The center pulls the puck away from the Oilers skater and quickly cuts behind defensive man Matthias Ekholm before heading over the shoulder of Oilers goalkeeper Stuart Skinner when Reinhardt collapses.
Long-range Lister from left winger Matthew Tokachuk doubled Florida’s lead 2-0 with less than a minute left in the opening period.
The second period was pretty much uneventful, but in a few minutes of closing, Reinhart was hit again for the Panthers. The 29-year-old used his skate to redirect a pass from Alexander Barkov’s Skinner for the second goal of the game.
However, Reinhart only finished half of his big night.
In the third term, when the game appears to be out of reach and desperately need a gust of target winds, Edmonton made the strategic decision to stay in the game and draw the goalkeeper.
Reinhart made the most of this situation, earning an empty netter to complete a hat trick and adding a fourth goal to lead the Panthers’ lead to 5-0.
An offensive explosion led to Team High Seven’s goal tally during the series. Reinhart is the first player to score seven goals in the Stanley Cup Final since Wayne Gretzky 40 years ago.
Meanwhile, among the Florida pipes, the man who is affectionately known by his teammates and fans as “Bob” was stable, denies the Oilers’ hopes of scores. Sergei Bobrovsky, who messed up his Cup victory last season and started all the games this postseason, made 28 saves in the victory. Edmonton’s lonely tally left no chance of a comeback later in the game as Vasily Podkolzin attacked the rebound with less than five minutes left in the game.
The three monsters, Reinhart (7), Marchand (6), and Bennett (5), became the second trio of teammates, each with five or more goals in the Stanley Cup Final Series. The 1955 Detroit Red Wings are pinned to the legendary GordieHou and are the only team to achieve that feat 70 years ago.
The Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the most valuable player of the postseason, went to Bennett. Bennett scored 15 league-leading goals in the playoffs, scoring a total of 22 points.
Marchand, who won the Cup with the Bruins in 2011 and acquired ahead of the March trade deadline, was filled with joy after being able to lift the NHL’s precious Chalice 14 years later.
“I feel like I can’t really explain and see the family and everyone who supports my family and everyone there (stands) and who helped me to reach this point. … Words can’t make it a reality how wonderful it feels.
“Everyone wrote us down from the start of the playoffs. They were everyone who was bastarding us in every round, so we had that fire and knew there was something special about us.
After the match, Reinhart was asked about the notable achievements of winning back-to-back championships.
“It’s not easy to come back,” Reinhardt told TNT. “You know how difficult it is, sometimes it benefits you, sometimes it doesn’t.
“We just stuck with it. We have to go your way to get here at the end, and we were working again.”
Tkachuk noted that after playing and winning two of his last three finals, the results were even greater. “We are a dynasty,” he said.
Over the years, Edmonton’s second loss has been 32 years since the Canadian team won the championship in their own winter sports. The Montreal Canadiens were the last franchise from the north of the border to wind up a trophy named after Preston’s Stanley Lord.
