GAME RECAP: Panthers 2, Oilers 1 (Game 7)

SUNRISE, FL – The Florida Panthers are 2024 Stanley Cup champions.

After the Oilers fought back in the Stanley Cup Final from 3-0 down to force Game 7, the Blue & Orange were unable to win the final game of the playoffs on Monday night, falling one game short of lifting the Stanley Cup for the sixth time in franchise history after being defeated 2-1 at Amerant Bank Arena.

"We overcame so many obstacles; so much adversity," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "There'll be a lot of thinking about what happened tonight and the what ifs, and it'll take a while to let it go. But I commend the players in that room. They just put in an outstanding effort all season."

Sam Bennett's go-ahead goal with 4:49 left in the second period ultimately ended up as the Stanley Cup-winning tally, beating Stuart Skinner short side under the glove with a wrist shot off the rush that lifted the Panthers into a 2-1 lead that would hold up until the final buzzer of the 2024 playoffs, awarding Florida their franchise's first championship since joining the NHL in 1993.

Mattias Janmark scored Edmonton's lone goal of Game 7 in the first period by tying the game less than three minutes after Carter Verhaeghe opened the scoring just 4:47 into the opening frame, providing the Panthers momentum on home ice that would play a part in them preventing the Oilers from completing a historic comeback in the Stanley Cup Final.

Oilers' captain Connor McDavid was held pointless for a second straight game in 25:42 of ice time on Monday, but would be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the 2024 playoffs after recording 42 points (eight goals) in 25 post-season contests.

"I'm really proud of the way we fought all year," McDavid said. "We were behind the eight ball almost immediately, and we fought an uphill climb for months and months and it just sucks to come this close."

After coming one game short of the ultimate goal, the Oilers will try to win the final game of the playoffs next season when they return to the ice in October for the start of the 2024-25 NHL campaign.

FIRST PERIOD

The Panthers jumped out to an early lead after gaining their first advantage in 184:27 of the Final (a 4-3 victory in Game 3) when Carter Verhaeghe was left alone in front to place a perfect deflection on Evan Rodrigues' shot from the left circle that was heading wide.

After a strong early penalty kill for the Oilers, Florida's playoff-leading goalscorer with 11 goals evaded the coverage of Evan Bouchard in front and deflected Rodrigues' effort five-hole on Skinner only 4:27 into Monday's deciding contest, giving the Panthers a boost by getting on the board first in front of their home fans at Amerant Bank Arena.

The home team held a 12-5 record in all-time Game 7's in the Stanley Cup Final coming into Monday night, but the road team has won the last three as Edmonton fell behind early in their goal to become the fourth.

Just as the story has been this entire series, Edmonton fought their way back to make it a tie game.

Defenceman Cody Ceci continued his exceptional play in Game 7's for the Oilers when he made a stretch pass through the neutral zone to the far blueline to find Mattias Janmark, who barreled in on a breakaway and caught a piece of Sergei Bobrovsky's right pad before it tipped up into the top half of the Florida net, tying the game on his second goal and fourth point of the Stanley Cup Final.

Evan Bouchard struck the post near the seven-minute mark for Edmonton's best chance to take the lead before the period ended, with Florida gaining the upper hand in the territorial battle as we entered the intermission in a turf battle that would continue into the second period with the score tied 1-1.

SECOND PERIOD

For one last time, Edmonton would have to come from behind – this time to win the Stanley Cup.

Sam Reinhart's wrist shot with five-and-a-half minutes left in the middle frame lifted the Panthers into a 2-1 lead before the intermission after the Florida winger beat Skinner short side on the rush for his second goal of the series.

The Oilers came close just seconds earlier when the puck trickled through the crease off a shot delivered by Bouchard before it was cleared from danger by defenceman Dmitry Kulikov, starting the rush where the Panthers flew up the ice with numbers for Reinhart to place his shot under the glove of the Oilers' goalie from the right circle despite the back-tracking Leon Draisaitl getting a stick to the shot to try and change its trajectory.

"You knew it was going to be tight in a Game 7 for the Cup," McDavid said. "You knew it was going to be a real tight game and it was going to come down to one thing here and there, and we were an inch away from going ahead 2-1 right before they did. It's tough. They did a good job of shutting things down, and we had our looks. We just didn't find it."

Teams who held a lead through two periods of Game 7 of Stanley Cup Final were 13-1 all-time coming into Monday, with the lone loss being suffered by the Red Wings against the 1942 Maple Leafs – the only team to complete the reverse sweep in the Final – who'd need to draw even more comparisons to the 2024 Oilers if the Blue & Orange were to orchestrate one final comeback.

THIRD PERIOD

Edmonton emptied the tank, but it wouldn't be enough to stop them from falling just short of winning the Stanley Cup.

The Oilers killed off their second penalty of the night early in the final frame before the Panthers went on the defensive in the final 15 minutes of the period to preserve their one-goal lead. Bennett got their final high-danger chance of the game by forcing Stuart Skinner into a sharp save in tight quarters with 14:41 left in regulation, leaving the Blue & Orange to attack with regularity to try and find an equalizer that could force overtime and potentially save their season.

The Oilers hemmed the Panthers into plenty of long shifts after they iced the puck regularly to relieve the pressure being applied by the Oilers, with Edmonton having their best chance at making it 2-2 near the seven-minute mark.

Bouchard's low shot was intercepted by McDavid for the captain to try and wrap it around the outstretched Bobrovsky, but after it was knocked off the captain's stick by a defender, Zach Hyman had his follow-up effort broken up by another Panthers' skater before the referee blew the play down.

Darnell Nurse had a chance to catch Bobrovsky out during a wild sequence around the Panthers' crease with 3:29 remaining, but Florida was getting bodies in the way as time dwindled down to the final minutes. McDavid deflected Bouchard's shot on goal just wide in the last few minutes as the captain came in from the left side, with the chances for Edmonton to equalize slowly dwindling.

"We showed all year long that we could fight back even in the most dire situations, and obviously, it's tough to be down three and it's tough to string four in a row against a good team like that," McDavid said. "But we were right there. Right there. We really believed. We really believed were going to get one and have that one in front. Zach has a whack at it. Bouch has got all kinds of looks. We had lots of looks."

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch took Edmonton's timeout and pulled Stuart Skinner for the extra attacker when he got the chance with over a minute left, but after failing to establish offensive-zone possession in the last minute, the clock ran out and the Panthers celebrated winning their franchise's first Stanley Cup, avoiding the reverse sweep in Game 7 with a 2-1 victory.

"We created enough looks to find another one, but obviously, it wasn't meant to be," Draisaitl said. "It's an amazing group, an amazing group of guys. So much character. It's hard to put into words how much character there is in this room, and I'm just really, really proud of how we stuck with it all year.

"We battled all the way to the end.