NHL Notebook: Stanley Cup Finals Recap

The Florida Panthers made it two in a row, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in six games to win the Stanley Cup. The Panthers are not only the second team to win back-to-back Cups in the last six years, but they’re the second from the state of Florida, joining Tampa Bay who won in 2020 and 2021.

We have to look at Game 5 as the key turning point of the Finals. The series was knotted at two games apiece. The Oilers, showing the resilience they’ve repeatedly demonstrated in winning the Western Conference the last two years, had won Game 4 by rallying from a 3-0 deficit. They had momentum and they were going home.

Moreover, Edmonton had been reasonably successful at keeping the games played fairly up-tempo. While that was most pronounced in the first two games at home, they still consistently got 30-plus shots in the middle games in Florida. With home-ice advantage, there was every reason to think the Oilers were going to do it.

Instead, the Panthers got physical and played some vintage defensive hockey in Game 5. The two teams combined only had 39 shots. It was the kind of game Florida excels at under any circumstances and was particularly vital for beating a team with the offensive firepower of Edmonton. The Panthers won that game comfortably and then closed it out in a Game 6 that was basically one long party in Miami.

Another key threshold point was in Game 2. The Oilers had won the opener, then continued to play up-tempo hockey in forcing the second game to overtime on a Corey Perry goal with 0:17 left. Here again, they had momentum. But veteran Brad Marchand, acquired by Florida at the trade deadline, scored in overtime and stabilized the series for the Panthers.

In the Game 6 finale, Florida’s discipline was again on display. Edmonton actually played pretty well in the first period. They got more chances, particularly in the early going, as they competed with appropriate urgency. But there were the little mistakes—letting a Panther player get a wide-open look close to the net or in transition. The missed passes. Florida played a clean, tight game, took advantage of their opportunities, and had a 2-0 lead at the end of a period that could easily have been very different.

Sam Bennett was a deserved winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy, which focuses on the entire four-round postseason. He scored 15 goals and was remarkably consistent throughout. If we focus strictly on the Finals, you’d have to give the nod to Marchand, who scored six goals and they were high-impact goals, in the big moments of Games 2 & 5 particularly. And for the Game 6 clincher, that was Sam Reinhart’s night, as he scored four times. Sergei Bobrovsky was terrific in net, with a 92 percent save rate for the Finals.

Edmonton is a talented team. They’re also a resilient team, one worthy of admiration. But Florida is just at a level no one else is right now. They were able to neutralize Connor McDavid. While Leon Draisaitl had a good series and scored four times, he was also limited to 14 shots, preventing him from full involvement in the offense.

All of it underscores just how tough the Panthers are to beat. They have the offensive weaponry and the goaltending. But above all, they just make games like a trip to the dentist’s office for the opposing team. They don’t beat themselves. And for two years in the playoffs, no one has been able to beat them.