RECAP: Panthers 2, Oilers 1

SUNRISE, Fla. – Throw your rats, Cats fans.

The culmination of a dream 30 years in the making, the Florida Panthers captured their first-ever Stanley Cup with a 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.

A team once mocked for decades as irrelevant is now immortal.

Soak it in.

“It’s everything you could possibly dream of,” said Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who’s in his 10^th season with the organization. “They always say that you can’t put it into words, and you really can’t. I just got done crying a few minutes ago like a little baby.”

After letting a 3-0 series lead turn into 3-3, the Panthers saved their best for last.

In many ways, this Game 7 should be looked back on as a masterful performance.

“It just took us one game to get ourselves together and just know what to do,” said Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, the team’s longest-tenured player currently in his 11^th season. “We went out there with less thinking, more doing. … There’s lots of emotions right now.”

Opening the scoring for the first time since Game 3, the Panthers raced out to an early 1-0 lead when Carter Verhaeghe, who had scored a team-leading 10 goals heading into the game, deftly tipped in a shot to make it 1-0 at 4:27 of the first period.

Just 2:17 later, Mattias Janmark responded for the Oilers when he took a stretch pass from Cody Ceci and beat Sergei Bobrovsky on a breakaway to quickly even the score 1-1 at 6:44.

In the second period, the penalty kill shined for the Panthers.

Keeping the Oilers from taking the lead just a few minutes into the middle frame, the Panthers, who took just one penalty in the game, shut down Edmonton’s lethal power play.

In an incredible display of determination, Kevin Stenlund, the team’s fourth-line center brought in during the offseason to stabilize Florida’s penalty kill, spent much of the kill with nothing but his body to get in the way of Edmonton’s shots after his stick was broken.

“It’s harder to skate without a stick and block shots,” Stenlund laughed when recalling the sequence. “We made it through. It was a team effort today. Today, we stayed out of the box. We played disciplined. It was great, great overall.”

Breaking the tie with the biggest goal of his career, Sam Reinhart, who scored a career-high 57 goals during the regular season, beat Stuart Skinner with a wicked snipe from the right circle to make it 2-1 at 15:11.

In an impressive goaltending battle, Bobrovsky finished with 23 saves, while Skinner made 19.

“You can’t pick one guy because every guy was so committed to winning,” Panthers forward Sam Bennett said of the full-team effort in Game 7. “Every guy was so committed to doing whatever it took to win. I love this group. This is a really special group.”

Carrying that lead into the final 20 minutes, the Panthers locked it down as only they can.

Not allowing a single shot on goal until 7:08 had ticked off the clock, the Panthers held the Oilers, desperate for a goal, to just nine shots and eight scoring chances in the third period.

With just over seven minutes left in regulation, the Panthers survived one of the scariest sequences of the period when Connor McDavid, who took home the Conn Smythe in defeat after leading the playoffs with 42 points, was denied on a golden look in front.

On the play, Gustav Forsling kept McDavid from getting a clean look, and Brandon Montour kept Zach Hyman from getting a shot off on the follow-up attempt. Helping Bobrovsky keep the puck from across the goal line, Eetu Luostarinen and Bennett both dove into the crease.

In that moment, you could tell the Panthers weren’t going to let this one get away.

“Big players step up at big times,” Bennett said.

From there, the Panthers slowly chipped away at the final opponent: the clock.

Over the final five minutes, Evan Rodrigues basically lived in the boards.

“That’s what I was trying to do – kill as much time as possible,” said Rodrigues, a key signing last summer. “Especially late in the period, we were trying to wear them down there. We just wanted to wear them down in the D-zone. Every guy contributed. It was all worth it.”

When the final seconds ticked off, jubilation ensued.

After so many years of ups and down, the Panthers reached the top of the mountain.

Stanley Cup champions.

"It was supposed to be seven games,” Forsling said. “We're doing it the hard way. That's how it was supposed to be, at home in front of our family, friends and fans. It was meant to be."

Stay tuned for more stories on the Panthers’ historic victory in the coming days.

THEY SAID IT

“There’s so many plays during the game that were so much by all of the players. We played with freedom. We played so hard. We deserved to win today.” – Kevin Stenlund

“[Sergei Bobrovsky] has been our best player all year long, all playoff long. When we needed him most, he stood on his head again." – Sam Bennett

“We were really strong mentally and physically.”  – Gustav Forsling

“To win it at home in front of our own fans, I think it was meant to be.” – Carter Verhaeghe

WHAT’S NEXT?

It’s time to celebrate.

Stay tuned for more information regarding the upcoming Stanley Cup parade.