Florida Panthers WIN the Stanley Cup as 2-1 victory over Edmonton Oilers in crucial Game 7 seals team’s first EVER championship

The Florida Panthers faced a brutal attack from the Edmonton Oilers in the third period and won Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals 2-1 on Monday.

At the end of the first period, both teams shared the goals. Carter Verhaeghe gave Florida the 1-0 lead with a tip nearly five minutes into the opening stanza.

Minutes later, Edmonton’s Mattias Janmark hit a wrist shot to tie the game heading into the second.

Sam Reinhart would be the lone scorer in the middle period, giving the Panthers the 2–1 lead they would hold to secure their first Stanley Cup title as a franchise.

The Oilers desperately tried to score a goal in the final period, outshooting the Panthers in the third with nine shots on goal to Florida’s four.

Edmonton would also have more shots on goal for the entire match: 24 to Florida’s 21. However, the winners had 31 hits to Edmonton’s 20 and 17 blocks to the Oilers’ 14.

After putting them on their heels in the final period, the now champions had 13 giveaways and 12 takeaways. Meanwhile, the Oilers had nine and seven, respectively.

Edmonton defeated the LA Kings in five games, Vancouver Canucks in seven and the Dallas Stars in six games to secure their spot in the finals.

On the other hand, the Panthers’ championship run started with a gentlemen’s sweep over the Tampa Bay Lightning, a six-game series against the Boston Bruins, followed by another against the New York Rangers.

Florida took a commanding 3-0 lead but left the fans on the edge of their seats as Edmonton climbed back to force a clincher. Seeking their sixth franchise Stanley Cup title and first since 1990, the Oilers were denied the opportunity to make history by overcoming an 0-3 deficit.

The Panthers won their first title in seven games after losing 3-0 to the Oilers in the series

Florida contained Edmonton’s relentless attack in the third, totaling 20 blocks on the night

Edmonton also had more shots on goal throughout the game: 24 to Florida’s 21

The only other team to accomplish this feat was the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942 against the Detroit Red Wings. The Panthers were outscored 18-5 in Games 4, 5 and 6, losing three chances to win the Cup.

They enlisted seven-time Grammy winner Alanis Morissette — she was born in Canada and became a dual American citizen in 2005 — to sing the national anthems. Hardly anyone could hear her; the Oilers fans drowned her out for “O Canada,” the Panthers fans did the same for “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Then they had Panthers legend Roberto Luongo hit the ceremonial bass drum; he urged fans to “let’s go” with an extra word thrown in that required a few beeps.

The preliminary match was raw. The stage was set.

And the teams were completely on fire.

The Panthers defeated the Lightning, Bruins and Rangers en route to their first title

Carter Verhaeghe gave Florida a 1-0 lead with a tip five minutes into the first period

Edmonton’s Mattias Janmark hit a wrist shot to tie the game heading into the second

Sam Reinhart would be the lone scorer in the middle period, giving Florida a 2-1 lead

The Panthers scored the first goal just 4:27 into the game Verhaeghe waved his stick on the puck fired in from the left side by Evan Rodrigues and got just enough to redirect it past Skinner for a 1-0 lead – Florida’s first lead since the end of Game 3.

They waited more than a week before they recovered. They stayed there for a little over two minutes.

Janmark stood behind the Florida defense and beat Bobrovsky over the right shoulder at 6:44, getting things back on track and ensuring that this Game 7 of the finals – like all 17 of the previous such games – would not end 1-0.

It stayed that way through wild ebbs and flows — the Oilers controlling long stretches, the Panthers countering back and forth — until Reinhart scored late in the second to give Florida a 2-1 lead. It capped a crazy sequence, one in which Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov ended up in the net to help prevent an Edmonton goal seconds before Reinhart beat Skinner. The goal was Reinhart’s 67th of the season, extending his Florida single-season record, and it was up to the Panthers to keep it standing.

Florida was an NHL-best 44-0-3 when it started Monday with a lead after two periods this season. An NHL-best 85-2-6 in that situation in the two seasons under coach Paul Maurice, too.

They slammed the door for the last time. And the cup was their reward.

“This is the best moment of my life so far,” veteran Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “There’s nothing like it.”