Panthers rout Oilers to capture second NHL Stanley Cup in a row / Photo: BRUCE BENNETT - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Panthers rout Oilers to capture second NHL Stanley Cup in a row
The Florida Panthers, powered by Sam Reinhart's four-goal effort, captured their second consecutive Stanley Cup on Tuesday, defeating Edmonton 5-1 to win the NHL Final.
Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots while Matthew Tkachuk added a goal for the Panthers, who took the best-of-seven series 4-2.
After claiming their first crown last year, the Panthers become the first NHL club since Tampa Bay in 2020-21 to win back-to-back titles.
Florida beat Edmonton in seven games in last year's Stanley Cup final after squandering a 3-0 series lead, but this time dominated the final two games to hoist the trophy.
Not since Montreal beat Boston in 1977 and 1978 had a team defeated the same foe in the final two years in a row.
Reinhart became only the fourth player to score seven goals in an NHL Final after Jean Beliveau in 1956, Mike Bossy in 1982 and Wayne Gretzky in 1985.
The Oilers, seeking their sixth crown overall, have not won the Cup since 1990.
No Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since Montreal in 1993.
Florida became only the eighth NHL team to clinch the Cup on home ice in back-to-back seasons, the first since the Oilers in 1987 and 1988.
Edmonton selected Stuart Skinner as the starting goaltender after using Calvin Pickard in a 5-2 game-five loss on Saturday.
Skinner had been yanked from game four after surrendering three goals in the first period before Edmonton rallied for a 5-4 overtime triumph.
- Reinhart runs wild -
Just 4:36 into the game, Reinhart stole the puck from Edmonton's Evan Bouchard at the blue line, evaded defender Mattias Ekholm and beat Skinner one-on-one to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
It was 29-year-old Canadian right wing Reinhart's league-leading 15th goal of the playoffs, coming a day after Reinhart was named to Canada's 2026 Winter Olympic team.
Tkachuk, named to the 2026 US Olympic squad, made it 2-0 for the Panthers just 47 seconds before the end of the first period, taking a pass from Finnish left wing Eetu Luostarinen and firing the puck past Skinner.
Reinhart made it 3-0 with 2:29 remaining in the second period when Skinner surrendered a rebound off a Carter Verhaeghe's shot and Florida's Aleksander Barkov fired a shot that Reinhart deflected into the net.
Bobrovsky made 10 saves in both the first and second periods to frustrate the Oilers.
Fans began chanting, "We want the Cup" in the third period as the precious final minutes ran out on Edmonton.
The Oilers pulled Skinner in favor of an extra attacker in desperation and Reinhart made them pay, netting his third goal into an empty net with 6:34 remaining and his fourth also into an unprotected net with 5:05 remaining.
Vasily Podkolzin scored for Edmonton with 4:42 remaining to avert a shutout.
P.Jakobsson--StDgbl
