The Florida Panthers overcome the Edmonton Oilers in seven games to capture their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, narrowly avoiding getting reverse swept in an epic championship series for the ages.
Before giving my personal commentary on this series as a whole, a brief overview of each game explaining how we got to this result:
Game 1: Panthers shut out the Oilers 3-0. Carter Verhaeghe strikes first for Florida in the opening period, while Evan Rodrigues extends the Panthers’ lead to two in the middle frame. Eetu Luostarinen puts this one away late in the third with an empty-netter to seal the victory for the Panthers in Game 1. Sergei Bobrovsky becomes the fifth goalie in the past 40 seasons to record a shutout in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, stopping all 32 shots he faced.
Game 2: Panthers defeat the Oilers 4-1. The Oilers struck first in the opening period via Mattias Ekholm in the opening period, but it was all Florida from there. Niko Mikkola scored in the second period to tie the game at one, while Evan Rodrigues scored twice and Aaron Ekblad supplied an empty-netter in the third period to prevail in Game 2 of the Cup Final for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky had another outstanding performance in net, recording 18 saves on 19 shots against.
Game 3: Panthers defeat the Oilers 4-3. Florida gets on the board first with about a minute remaining in the opening period after Sam Reinhart redirects a shot from Gustav Forsling into the net. The Oilers tied it early in the second period via Warren Foegele, while the Panthers followed the equalizer with three unanswered goals from Vladimir Tarasenko, Sam Bennett, and Aleksander Barkov to give Florida a three-goal lead heading into the third period. Edmonton was able to mount a bit of a comeback in the third period with goals from Philip Broberg and Ryan McLeod, but the Oilers were unable to overcome the excellent play of Sergei Bobrovsky in the Panthers net and their defensive woes.
Game 4: Oilers blow out the Panthers 8-1 to stay alive and force Game 5. The Oilers got things going early in the first period on a shorthanded goal by Mattias Janmark and one at even strength from Adam Henrique. Vladimir Tarasenko scored the lone goal for the Panthers during the second half of the opening period, but it was all Edmonton from there. The Oilers lit up the Panthers for six more goals via two from Dylan Holloway late in the first period and late in the third period, Connor McDavid, Darnell Nurse, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the second period, and Ryan McLeod late in the third period to complete their statement performance in Game 4. Stuart Skinner had a huge bounceback performance in Game 4 for the Oilers, recording 32 saves on 33 shots against, while Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled in the second period after giving up his fifth goal of the night. In addition, Connor McDavid registered his 32nd assist of the playoffs, passing Wayne Gretzky for the most playoff assists in a season.
Game 5: Oilers defeat the Panthers 5-3 to force Game 6 and send the Cup Final back to Edmonton. Edmonton got off to another hot start, this time scoring three consecutive goals via Connor Brown in the first period while shorthanded and Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid early in the second period. The Oilers added two more goals via Corey Perry's first of the playoffs later in the middle frame and an empty-netter from Connor McDavid in the final seconds of the third period to seal the victory. The Panthers made this one close with three goals of their own from Matthew Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, but were never able to recover from their slow start and take the lead at any point during this game. Stuart Skinner recorded his second straight quality start in net after his Oilers dropped the first three games of the Cup Final, stopping 29 of 32 shots he faced. McDavid now becomes the third player in NHL history to score at least 40 points in a postseason, joining Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
Game 6: Oilers defeat the Panthers 5-1 to even the series at three and force a decisive Game 7. The Oilers scored three times to begin this one via Warren Foegele in the first period and Adam Henrique and Zach Hyman in the second period. Aleksander Barkov registered the only goal for the Panthers in Game 6 early in the third period, while the Oilers added two empty-netters via Ryan McLeod and Darnell Nurse late in the third. Stuart Skinner continues to perform his best in the Oilers net when Edmonton's backs are against the wall, recording 20 saves on 21 shots in the Oilers' third straight victory.
Game 7: Panthers defeat the Oilers 2-1 to avoid getting reverse swept and win the Stanley Cup. Carter Verhaeghe scored to get the Panthers on the board first in the opening period, followed soon after by Mattias Janmark responding to even the score at one for the Oilers. Florida gets the game-winner and Cup-clincher on a goal from Sam Reinhart set up extraordinarily by a huge and unbelievable assist by Dmitri Kulikov late in the second period. Sergei Bobrovsky had a huge bounceback performance from Games 4 through 6, recording 23 saves on 24 shots against in the Game 7 Cup victory, cementing his status as a future Hockey Hall-of-Famer.
Aleksander Barkov became the first Finnish-born captain to lead his team to winning the Stanley Cup, while Connor McDavid became the first player since J.S. Giguere of the Ducks and the second non-goalie ever to win the Conn Smythe for playoff MVP while on the losing end of the Cup Final. In addition, Corey Perry became the first player in NHL history to lose four of the past five Stanley Cup Finals on four different teams, a truly amazing feat that very few could ever match.
What an incredible ending to a fantastic 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. I wanted the Panthers to win the Cup once it was determined that they would be facing the Oilers in the Cup Final this year, and I am very happy and relieved that they were able to get the job done and not allow themselves to get reverse swept. I am proud of everyone involved in helping the Panthers win their first-ever Stanley Cup, and this Florida Panthers team certainly earned it this year. It's great to see a team in a non-traditional hockey market who has previously had an inconsistent track record and struggling attendance numbers become one of the best teams in the NHL in recent seasons and finally win their first Stanley Cup. There were plenty of first-time Cup winners on this Panthers squad, but it is especially great to see former longtime Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time as a member of the Panthers' front office, who is one of the all-time greatest goalies in NHL history and an all-around great guy. I am also grateful and relieved that this Cup Final didn't result in one of the biggest collapses in sports history for the Panthers, and I didn't have to see Evander Kane hoist the Stanley Cup. As for former Sharks that received the privilege to hoist the Cup this year, Steven Lorentz and Jonah Gadjovich were able to add their names to the Cup for the first time this year, who I both see as more respectable than Evander Kane, and I can't help but feel happy for Lorentz and Gadjovich.
Although they fell just short of the Stanley Cup, it has been quite the run for Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. How McDavid willed his team all they way to being one win shy of winning the Cup is nothing short of phenomenal, and they will have plenty more opportunities to return to the biggest stage in the coming seasons. I initially thought from the first three games that this series would wrap up in five games, but it ended up going the distance and couldn't have been scripted any better.
Next up, now that the NHL is fully in offseason mode, the biggest and most important entry draft in Sharks franchise history is taking place this Friday. I am looking forward to this year's NHL Draft as much as I was to the Cup Final that just concluded, and I will provide coverage of any important Sharks transactions leading up to the draft and draft news to CPF Hockey as soon as they occur.
Sources: ESPN, ABC, NHL App, NHL Discussion Page via Instagram
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