Whelp. The Stanley Cup is staying in Florida. That’s nice. The Florida Panthers went from huge question mark heading into the post-season to an absolute juggernaut as they won their second consecutive Stanley Cup with a 5-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. And with that victory, the season comes to an end.
With several of their players injured at the end of the season (or, in the case of Aaron Ekblad, suspended for performance-enhancing drugs) there was some doubt as to if they would even make it out of the first round. Well, we all know what happened in that series. They dispatched the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games. Toronto was next, and pushed them to the limit, but couldn’t find the back of the net when it mattered first. Carolina was supposed to be a fast-paced, high-volume shot team that could challenge the Florida defense. The Hurricanes mustered a measly 5 goals at 5v5 play as they were brushed aside in five games.
The Stanley Cup rematch between the Panthers and Edmonton Oilers was set to be a classic, and for the first four games it was. Three overtime games, one blowout that led to some penalty/scrum shenanigans, and just enough shaky goaltending to make every lead a tenuous one. However, Florida, as they have done over the last couple of seasons, found one more gear and dominated the last two games, outscoring the Oilers 10-3 in Games 5 and 6.
Game 6 was an absolute clinic as they scored early, and then controlled the pace the rest of the way. Edmonton had a couple of moments, but never really threatened. A late second-period goal by Sam Reinhart made it 3-0, and the mountain was too jagged for the Oilers to climb. By the time the dust had settled, Reinhart had four goals (two empty-netters) and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 29 shots for his all-important 16th win of the post-season. A meaningless goal by Vasily Podkolzin in the twilight of the game was the only blemish on Bob’s night.
The Panthers will look a lot different next season as they have eight unrestricted free agents. But that doesn’t matter tonight. The party will go long into the early South Florida morning. And, as much as it pains us to say, they deserved it. They were the best team in the playoffs this season. So, hopefully for the last time, we say: Congratulations to the Florida Panthers.
