Stanley stays put, as Panthers maul Oilers

Stanley's stay in South Florida is getting extended.

The Florida Panthers repeated as Stanley Cup champions by beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the final in Florida on Tuesday night, becoming the NHL's first back-to-back winners since Tampa Bay in 2020 and '21, and only the third team to do it this century.

Sam Reinhart scored four goals, becoming just the sixth player in league history, and first since Maurice Richard in 1957, to get that many in a game in the final. His third, to complete the hat-trick, sent toy rats, along with hats, flying onto the ice. Matthew Tkachuk, one of the faces of the franchise, fittingly scored the Cup clincher.

More toy rats were part of the victory celebration when the clock hit zeroes. Panthers players mobbed each other in the corner, while the Oilers watched in dismay.

"Good evening, South Florida," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said before presenting the trophy to captain Aleksander Barkov. "It feels like we just did this."

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced, closing the door on a rematch with the same end result. The only Oilers goal came from fellow Russian Vasily Podkolzin in garbage time, long after the outcome was decided.

That was followed by chants of "we want the cup" as time ticked down. The Panthers already had it. Now they get to keep it.

"This is as good as the first one," Reinhart said. "We learned some lessons. We stayed on the gas, foot on the pedal, and, obviously, the result speaks for itself."

Not long after the Lightning made three trips in a row to the final, Florida has done the same, and now has the makings of a modern-day dynasty. The Panthers have won 11 of 12 playoff series since Tkachuk arrived by trade and Paul Maurice took over as coach in the summer of 2022.

"We've got to be a dynasty now," Tkachuk said. "Three finals in a row, two championships. This is a special group."

The only time they have been on the wrong side of a handshake line was the final in Las Vegas in 2023, only after several key players were banged up and dealing with significant injuries.

From the core of Tkachuk, Reinhart, Barkov and Sam Bennett on the roster, they were much healthier this time around, and were boosted by key trade deadline additions Brad Marchand and Seth Jones. Bennett led all goal-scorers this postseason with 15, and Marchand had six in the finals alone.

Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Barkov handed the Cup to first-time champion Nate Schmidt, and all the others winning it for the first time got it soon after.

"It's amazing to be able to be here," Schmidt said. "I don't know whether to laugh or cry."

Getting contributions from deep throughout the lineup allowed the Panthers to overpower Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers, who struggled with Florida's ferocious forecheck, and switched goaltenders multiple times during the Finals. Stuart Skinner got the nod in Game 6, and was again done in by mistakes in front of him that ended with the puck in the net behind him. It was his own blunder that led to Reinhart's second goal.

McDavid tried to take over, but was again stymied by Barkov, Jones and Bobrovsky. He finished with seven points in his second career trip to the final, again denied his first title.

Canada's Stanley Cup drought reached 31 seasons and 32 years dating to Montreal in 1993. Teams in the United States' Sun Belt have won it five of the past six times, four of which have been from Florida.

This run — Tampa Bay in five, Toronto in seven, Carolina in five and Edmonton in six — showed how clinical the Panthers have become under Maurice, who has coached more NHL games than everyone except Scotty Bowman, and is now a two-time champion.

So is Marchand, who last hoisted the cup in 2011 with the Boston Bruins. The 14-year gap is the third-longest in league history, just shy of Chris Chelios' 16 from 1986 to 2002 and Mark Recchi's 15 from '91 to '06.

"It's incredible," Marchand said. "It's a feeling you can't really describe. Seeing the family, and everyone up there, everyone that supported me and helped me get to this point, words can't put this into reality, how great it feels. Such an incredible group."

Agencies via Xinhua