The Prince of Wales Trophy was carried onto the ice as time expired as an arena full of Florida Panthers fans roared with delight and dozens of players and staff rushed forward to pose with the award.
Last year the Panthers defied tradition and touched the trophy.
This year they didn’t. The message was clear. The Stanley Cup is the only one they want.
For the second year in a row they have a chance to win the biggest hockey prize. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots, Sam Bennett and Vladimir Tarasenko scored, and the Florida Panthers are headed to the Stanley Cup finals again after beating the New York Rangers 2-1 on Saturday night.
“We touched it last year and it didn’t work for us,” Bennett said of ignoring the trophy, which was presented to the Eastern Conference champions. “So we thought we would try something different this year.”
The Panthers – who lost the Cup final to Vegas last year – won the East title series in six games. Florida will face either Edmonton or Dallas for the Cup, which starts June 8.
Artemi Panarin scored with 1:40 left and Igor Shesterkin stopped 32 shots for the Rangers, who had a 2-1 series lead — and then lost three straight, costing them their season. It was New York’s longest losing streak since mid-January and means the team that finishes with the NHL’s best regular-season record for the 11th straight year will not win the Stanley Cup.
“Listen, our guys fought this year,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “They bought in from the start. It’s disappointing; When you go into something like that, you don’t do it to get three wins in the playoffs or five wins in the playoffs. You do it to go all the way.
If Edmonton – who leads the West final 3-2 – advances, Game 1 of the title round will take place on Florida ice. If Dallas wins the West, the Stars will have home field advantage for the title series. The Oilers can clinch that series on Sunday night.
Florida is playing for the Stanley Cup for the third time. The Panthers were swept by Colorado in 1996 and lost 4-1 to Vegas last season. It also marks the third time in the finals for Panthers coach Paul Maurice, who lost to Carolina in 2002 and to Florida last year.
Maybe the third time is the charm for both of them.
“My enjoyment of the game – and this is new for me – comes from the realization that I’m really not that important here,” says Maurice, who at 57 is trying to become the second-oldest coach ever. won the competition. first Stanley Cup; Bruce Cassidy was 58 when Vegas gave him his first title last year. ‘And I mean it. There is a beautiful line: ‘Don’t be so modest, you’re not that good.’ It’s the players. And if they go, they won’t need me.”
Florida’s victory meant it has now been five consecutive seasons that a team from the Sunshine State has won the Eastern Conference; Tampa Bay won the Prince of Wales Trophy in 2020, 2021 and 2022, and now Florida has gone back-to-back. The Panthers are also now the 15th active NHL franchise to reach the Stanley Cup Final in consecutive seasons.
The Panthers also ousted the regular season’s top team – the Presidents’ Trophy winner – for the second straight year. Last season, Florida stunned Boston in Round 1, winning Game 7 on the road. This time it was the Rangers who fell to Florida, which became the first franchise to eliminate the No. 1 overall pick in consecutive years since Pittsburgh did so against Washington in 2016 and 2017.
“We knew it wouldn’t be easy,” Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said. “I thought we were trying to throw away everything we had. It just wasn’t enough today.”
And for Bobrovsky, taking down No. 1 is clearly his thing.
He defeated the top overall team for the third time in six years: the Rangers this year, the Bruins last year and Tampa Bay when he was in Columbus in 2019.
“We were there,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said. “We just fell short.”
Bennett opened the scoring in the final minute of the first period, sending the puck to Evan Rodrigues, getting it back and firing a single shot over Shesterkin’s glove into the top right corner of the net. It was the third straight game with a goal for Bennett, tying his longest streak of the season and marking the first time he made such a mark in a postseason.
Bennett had a takeaway near the blue line with about five minutes left in the second period that set up a big opportunity, one that saw Matthew Tkachuk skate across the slot with only Shesterkin in front of him. Shesterkin made a toe save, though Tkachuk didn’t get much on the shot since Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller swung from behind and hit him in the wrist with his stick just before the shot went off.
Tarasenko was alone on the side of the net midway through the third for an easy one, making it 2-0 and starting the countdown.
The Rangers did not go quietly. Shesterkin went to the bench with 2:24 left and Panarin scored 44 seconds later, cutting Florida’s lead in half. But Florida killed the rest of the clock, and with that it was time to celebrate – without taking home the trophy this time.
“We expected to be back here,” Tkachuk said. “Obviously nothing is guaranteed. But we expected this.”