The Florida Panthers have won the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Final in thrilling fashion against the Edmonton Oilers. What can we say about the final series that the players themselves didn’t already say with their play on the ice. It started off as the brilliant case of Sergei Bobrovsky with an incredible .975 SV% through the first eight periods of the final. Then, Connor McDavid rose to the occasion, pouring in 10 points through the next seven periods of the series. However, when it came down to a winner take all, Game 7, the better, deeper team prevailed, and the Florida Panthers hoisted the 2024 Stanley Cup.
The Florida Panthers Win the 2024 Stanley Cup Against the Edmonton Oilers
This Stanley Cup championship was about the depth of all the Florida Panthers organization. Paul Maurice became the longest serving coach in professional sports at a tenure of 26 years to capture his first title. Furthermore, the longest serving Panther, their captain, Aleksander Barkov proved that he is the best two-way player on the planet. Heck even Roberto Luongo managed to capture his first Stanley Cup after a Hall-of-Fame career as a player. Currently, he serves in the Panthers front office.
When it comes down to the action on the ice in the Stanley Cup Final series, it was quite wild. On the heels of Bobrovsky’s stellar play, the Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 series lead. But then Game 4 in Edmonton, Alberta showed why many would argue McDavid is the greatest hockey player ever. The fact he is able to dominate in today’s world of super athletes, including posting the fourth most points (42) ever in a single post-season gives support to the argument of him being one of the best ever. He did manage to add a Conn Smythe Trophy to his resume. However, he still has some work to do ultimately to reach Wayne Gretzky‘s level, in particular his four Stanley Cup rings. Regardless, whenever he steps on the ice, we are watching a truly amazing display.
The Stanley Cup Final Series Came Down to Game 7
The Oilers battled back from 3-0, to force only the third Game 7 ever after such a despairing hole in Stanley Cup Final history. And when you look to recap the series as a whole, it really did come down to just one game, Game 7 from Sunrise, Florida. Moreover, a few eye brows were raised ahead of Game 7 with Bobrovsky and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each taking maintenance days with their respective clubs the day prior to the game. But when it came to the action, there was no doubt that both were playing. Evander Kane‘s status was in question but did not suit up for the Oil in Game 7.
In the Game 7, is was a hard-fought battle between two heavyweights of the sport. Game 7 brought us all down to reality. The Florida Panthers were a better defensive team, a deeper team, and have a generational goaltender between the pipes. Conversely, the Oilers feature two of the best players on the planet in McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
What Happened in That Final Game
The two teams exchanged goals early. A Carter Verhaeghe deflection opened the scoring for his 11th of the post-season. Next, a nearly 90-foot, pinpoint pass from Cody Ceci to Mattias Janmark brought the game even just 2:17 later on Janmark’s fourth goal of the playoffs. For as close as the Oilers came in completing the comeback in the series, it wasn’t to be this time around. In a way that great teams seem to win championships, one of their best players quietly came up big when it counted most. After a near miss by Draisaitl‘s line, the Panthers went back the other way on the counter-attack. Then, he of 11 regular season GWG in 2023-24 and now four career playoff GWG, Sam Reinhart wristed his tenth goal of the post-season home below the glove of Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner.
Despite a frantic push by the Oilers top players in the third, they were unable to find a way to tie the game. Keeping McDavid and Draisaitl off the score sheet, was a perfect formula for the Panthers to win Game 7. The Florida Panthers would hang on to win. In this, their 30th season as an NHL franchise, they capture their first Stanley Cup championship. And the Oilers, who proved to everyone that they belong among the league’s elite, will surely enter the 2024-25 campaign as one of the favourites to win. And for an entire country, we will have to wait at least one more year for a Canadian title to win the cup since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens.
Main photo credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
