Category: NHL

EDMONTON — This time, the Florida Panthers built a lead and held it. And because of it, they come back home with a chance to seal the Stanley Cup Final for a second straight season. The Panthers, behind two goals from Brad Marchand and others from Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen, took down the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 5 on Saturday night at Rogers Place. Florida, rebounding from a Game 4 defeat in which it blew a three-goal lead, can claim its second consecutive Stanley Cup back at Amerant Back Arena in Game 6 Tuesday night. The Panthers did so by improving to 10-3 on the...

SUNRISE — It was Taylor Swift who said Florida is one hell of a drug. Related Articles Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce at Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup Final Game 4 | PHOTOS Swift, the star singer-songwriter was at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday night — and not for a concert. Swift attended the Florida Panthers’ Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, watching with boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce from a suite. The couple appeared to be rooting for the Panthers, as Swift reacted favorably when the home team started the scoring with a goal from...

Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift and Wayne Gretzky, from left, sit together during the second period as the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers play in Game Four of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on June 12, 2025 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) Travis Kelce, left, and Taylor Swift react as the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers play during the first period in Game Four of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on June 12, 2025 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) Travis Kelce, left, and Taylor Swift react as...

SUNRISE — As impressive as the Florida Panthers’ third consecutive run through the Stanley Cup playoffs has been, it’s been accompanied by an inexplicable statistical oddity. The Panthers could not get the puck in the net on the power play at home. They entered Monday night’s Game 3 1 for 28 (3.6 percent) on the power play in playoff games at Amerant Bank Arena through three rounds. Florida apparently just needed the stakes to be a little higher. The Panthers scored twice on the power play Monday as they took a 2-1 series lead against the Edmonton Oilers. The drought was snapped when...

It’s not the baby faces or different hair Aaron Ekblad mentions about a photo from his 2014 draft, the one passed around the Florida Panthers’ plane before this Stanley Cup Final of that year’s top four picks, in order: Ekblad, Leon Draisaitl, Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett. “We were all laughing about how bad our shoes were,’’ he said. The chances of the four top picks having big careers is rare. Three of them being Panthers is rarer still and speaks of the assembling of talent on this team. And meeting the fourth, Draisaitl, the star Edmonton forward, for a second straight final?...

EDMONTON — There again will be thousands of fans outside the Rogers Place cheering in a plaza Friday night. A horn section at one end of the arena again won’t be heard sometimes over arena’s relentless noise. A fan will again hold up a sign, “SERGEI,” to signal it’s time to serenade Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. “Seeer-geeeeei!” the crowd will chant. Sometimes, during the half-second’s lull in that chant, a sub-chorus will sound. “We want the Cup!” Yes, it will be hockey heaven again in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, as electric a championship venue as there is in all of sports....

Who doesn’t love a sequel? The Panthers learned their opponent for their third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night. Florida, which punched its ticket with a Game 5 win over Carolina on Wednesday, will face the Edmonton Oilers, who clinched the Western Conference final with a win over Dallas on Thursday. The Final is a rematch of last year’s championship round, which went seven games before the Panthers won their first-ever Stanley Cup. The first game will be on June 4 in Edmonton. Games 3 and 4 and a potential Game 6 would be in Sunrise. The Oilers feature many of...

Carolina started Game 5 the way it played in Game 4. By the end of the first period, the Hurricanes led 2-0, giving fans at the Lenovo Center hope that their team might be capable of an epic comeback after falling behind 3-0 in the best-of-seven series. The Panthers slammed the door on that, crushing that hope with a three-goal flurry in the second period and a game-winner in the third period. The offensive blizzard put Florida ahead 3-2, and Carter Verhaeghe scored the game-winner late in the third period for the Panthers in their 5-3, Eastern Conference-clinching effort in Raleigh, North...

Florida forward Eetu Luostarinen suffered an injury and will not return to Wednesday’s Game 5 against Carolina, the Panthers announced. Luostarinen, going for a hit against the boards, missed and struggled to keep his balance on the ice immediately after. He did not return to the bench for the second period. The Panthers did not disclose the nature of his injury. Luostarinen, a key defensive forward, has been an effective offensive player on the Panthers’ third line during the playoffs. The 26-year-old forward has four goals and nine assists in the postseason. He entered Game 5 against the...

SUNRISE — Hurricanes Rod Brind’Amour infamously said that Carolina “didn’t lose four games,” when the Hurricanes lost four consecutive one-goal games and lost the conference final to the Florid Panthers in 2023. This time, he is definitely correct that the Hurricanes did not get swept. After going down 3-0 in the series to the Panthers, Carolina notched its first victory with a 3-0 win over a short-handed Florida at Amerant Bank Arena Monday night. The victory snaps a 15-game conference final losing streak for the franchise. The Hurricanes played their best game of the series, and they came...