Champs again! Panthers claim 2nd straight Stanley Cup, down Oilers in 6

SUNRISE — In the end, it wasn’t as much a competition as it was a coronation.

The Florida Panthers proved themselves undisputed kings of the NHL, repeating as Stanley Cup champions by defeating the Edmonton Oilers in six games. Sam Reinhart’s remarkable four-goal effort and a near-shutout from goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky anchored a 5-1 Game 6 win Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena to keep the Cup in South Florida.

Last year, it was the celebration of a franchise that that had struggled for decades, residing in sunshine and playing a sport on ice, finally reaching the NHL’s mountaintop.

If anyone was short-changing that accomplishment because the Oilers of 2024 nearly came back from a 3-0 series deficit or because Edmonton’s Connor McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy for the best performance in the playoffs, the Panthers did it to them again for good measure — this time, in more convincing fashion.

When two straight championships are won in team sports, what happens next is the dynasty word starts getting thrown around, and these Panthers might just be up to that billing.

In South Florida sports history, the Panthers join the 1972-73 Miami Dolphins and “Big 3” Miami Heat of the early 2010s as winners of back-to-back titles in their respective sport.

As Florida claims another Cup, Canada has not had a Stanley Cup champion since the Montreal Canadiens won it in 1993. McDavid, hockey’s top superstar, is still without his first in his illustrious 10-year career.

With this Final hyped as a rematch of hockey’s two best teams, the Panthers proved far superior as the series progressed.

Before Tuesday night’s commanding victory, they won Games 3 and 5 by a combined eight goals. Meanwhile, Edmonton’s two wins required game-winning goals in overtime from Leon Draisaitl, with one a three-goal comeback in Game 4. However, Florida also received extra-period heroics from Brad Marchand in Game 2. Florida spent more than 255 minutes of the series with a lead, compared to the Oilers’ 33:51.

The Panthers took the initial lead within five minutes of puck drop Tuesday. Reinhart stole the puck from the Oilers’ Evan Bouchard, put a move on fellow defenseman Mattias Ekholm similar to the highlight Marchand had in Game 5 and, as he slid to the ice on his bottom, scored past goaltender Stuart Skinner.

As the Panthers continued to pepper Skinner with high-danger scoring chances, Matthew Tkachuk put another in the net with 47 seconds left in the first period. Anton Lundell forced a turnover, gave it to Eetu Luostarinen, who fed Tkachuk for the goal from the slot that kept alive the Panthers’ streak of scoring at least two goals in every opening period of the Final.

A celebration symbolic of South Florida was on, as a fan threw a beach ball onto the ice.

Bobrovsky and the Panthers’ defense kept the Oilers talent of McDavid, Draisaitl and company in check, and before the end of the second period, Florida scored again.

Reinhart’s second goal was deflected off his skate on a sweet pass from in close by captain Aleksander Barkov.

Panthers fans antagonized Skinner throughout Tuesday night, chanting his name, like they did in Game 3 when he allowed five goals and Game 4 when he was pulled after surrendering three in the first period.

With Skinner pulled with seven minutes left, Reinhart got got his hat trick from the blue line on the empty net with 6:34 remaining.  He got another with 5:05 remaining to become the fourth player with four goals in a Stanley Cup Final. They made Vasily Podkolzin’s lone Edmonton goal in the final minutes irrelevant.

With the Panthers leading by multiple goals throughout the third period, the final 20 minutes were more about chants from the raucous capacity crowd at Amerant Bank Arena, a combination of “Let’s go Panthers!” and “We want the Cup!” — and eventually “USA!” chants.

This story will be updated.