Aleksander Barkov gripped the Stanley Cup tightly as he skated off, launching the long-awaited celebration for the Florida Panthers. As he raised the trophy for the first time, Barkov couldn’t help but remark, “It’s heavy.”
The Panthers overcame a tough journey to claim their inaugural championship. Despite a three-game losing streak, they didn’t falter in the crucial moments of the Cup run. In Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers, Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe scored, backed by Sergei Bobrovsky’s 23 saves, securing a 2-1 victory.
This marked Florida’s third appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in their 30-year history. Previous defeats, including a sweep in 1996 and a 4-1 loss to Vegas last season, fueled their determination this time around.
“You have to experience those losses first to understand what it takes,” said forward Matthew Tkachuk.
Avoiding a historic collapse after initially leading the series 3-0, the Panthers rallied when it mattered most. Head coach Paul Maurice summed up the triumph, saying, “It’s even better than I imagined.” The journey was far from easy, but the Panthers finally achieved their goal.
After the final buzzer, Barkov passed the Cup to Bobrovsky, sparking jubilation. Their victory denied Connor McDavid his first title and ended Edmonton’s quest for their first Cup since 1990.
“You want to be a real champion and you want to win,” said Bobrovsky, who became a champion for the first time at 35. “But in the end, you don’t do it for the Cups. You do it because you love the game.”
McDavid won the Conn Smythe as MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs but didn’t come out for the trophy. It’s not the one he aimed for, anyway. The Cup is the ultimate prize, and it was Florida who lifted it.
“No player in the world wants to win the Stanley Cup more than him,” said Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl about McDavid, who had an exceptional postseason with 42 points. “He does everything right, every single day.”
But on Monday, the Panthers did a bit more right. And that made the difference.
“It’s not a dream anymore. It’s reality,” said Tkachuk, who was traded to Florida two summers ago with winning the Cup as his goal. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. … I can’t believe how amazing these two years have been. So grateful for this group of guys. It’s the best place, best guys. It’s really something special here with what we have.”
Mattias Janmark scored the goal for Edmonton, and Stuart Skinner saved 19 shots for the Oilers. Edmonton also couldn’t break Canada’s title drought; it’s been since 1993 that a Canadian team last won the Cup.
Montreal was the last team to do so, 30 seasons ago. Since then, Canadian-based teams — Vancouver in 1994 and 2011, Calgary in 2004, Edmonton in 2006, Ottawa in 2007, and Montreal in 2021 — have tried seven times to win the championship, all without success.
South Florida now boasts championships from all four major pro sports leagues in the U.S. The Miami Dolphins won twice, the then-Florida Marlins also won twice, the Miami Heat have three titles, and now the Panthers have joined them.
Welcome to the party, Stanley Cup. The Panthers have been waiting. Maurice raised the Cup near the bench, closed his eyes tightly to contain his emotions, and let out a yell. General manager Bill Zito couldn’t contain his excitement either.
In the stands, Tkachuk’s family — his father, Keith, who never won a Cup — celebrated the moment, knowing their family name would soon be engraved on the Stanley Cup. “This is for them,” Tkachuk said.
Bobrovsky remained calm even in crucial moments. Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard had a good chance late in the second period; Bobrovsky blocked the shot and swatted away the rebound with his stick as if playing a casual game of pickleball in the park rather than the Stanley Cup Final.
No problem. Bobrovsky ensured he was the last line of defense against the Oilers and against history that the Panthers were determined to avoid.
Florida led the series 3-0 but then lost Games 4, 5, and 6 by a combined score of 18-5, missing three chances to clinch the Cup.
Edmonton was close to becoming only the second team in NHL history to win the Cup after losing the first three games of the series; Toronto did it against Detroit in 1942, and no team has achieved it since.
“They should be proud of themselves,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “There’s a lot to be proud of.”
The Panthers brought in seven-time Grammy winner Alanis Morissette — born in Canada and a dual U.S. citizen since 2005 — to sing the national anthems. However, both Oilers and Panthers fans were so loud during the anthems that hardly anyone could hear her.
After that, Panthers legend Roberto Luongo banged the ceremonial bass drum and got the crowd fired up with an enthusiastic chant.
“We have a strong team with us,” said Luongo, whose jersey is retired by the Panthers and now works in the team’s front office. “And the guys really dug deep.”
The pregame atmosphere was lively. The stage was set. And both teams came out playing intensely. The Panthers scored first just 4:27 into the game. Verhaeghe tipped in a shot from Evan Rodrigues for a 1-0 lead — their first lead since Game 3.
After more than a week of waiting to get ahead, they held the lead for just over two minutes.
Janmark tied the game 1-1 at 6:44, beating Bobrovsky with a shot over his shoulder. This ensured that Game 7 of the final wouldn’t end in a low-scoring 1-0 affair, like the previous 17 games.
The score remained tied through a game of momentum swings — the Oilers dominated for stretches, but the Panthers responded back and forth. Late in the second period, Reinhart scored to put Florida up 2-1. It was a chaotic sequence, with Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov preventing an Edmonton goal just before Reinhart’s shot beat Skinner.
Reinhart’s goal was his 67th of the season, setting a new single-season record for Florida. Now, it was up to the Panthers to defend their lead.
