SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Aleksander Barkov put his hands on either end of the Stanley Cup and started skating to start the celebration the Florida Panthers have always wanted.
And as he began to lift the hockey chalice for the first time, he had a thought.
“It’s heavy,” he said.
A 37-pound trophy wasn’t too much for him. A three-game slide wasn’t too much for the Panthers. There was no stumble with the Cup, no collapse with the Cup on the line. The Panthers are champions for the first time, having taken the toughest possible path to the title.
Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe scored goals, Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves and the Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 Monday night in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. It was the third title appearance in Florida’s 30-year history; it was swept in 1996 by Colorado and beaten 4-1 by Vegas last season. And that loss last year was what this team needed.
“You have to go through it first,” said forward Matthew Tkachuk, “to know what it takes to get there.” »
This time, they were on the right side of history – having avoided what would have been a historic collapse. The Panthers won the first three games of the series, then lost the next three and needed a win Monday to avoid joining the 1942 Detroit Red Wings as the only teams to lose the final after blowing a 3-0 in the title round.
“It’s not what I thought,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “It’s so much better.”
It was not easy. Not even close. But it’s done.
Barkov handed the Cup to Bobrovsky and the party began. It took until the very end for the Panthers to deny Connor McDavid his first title and Edmonton what would have been its first Cup since 1990.
“You want to become a real champion and you want to win,” said Bobrovsky, a first-time champion at 35. “But at the end of the day, you don’t do it for the Cups. You do it for the love of the game.”
McDavid won the Conn Smythe as Stanley Cup Playoff MVP. He didn’t come to collect the trophy. It’s not the one he wanted, anyway. The Cup is what they play for, and Florida hoisted it.
“No player in the world wants to win the Stanley Cup more than him,” Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl said of McDavid, who had one of the best individual playoff series in NHL history with 42 points . “He does everything right, every day.”
But the Panthers did a little better on Monday. And that’s the difference.
“It’s no longer a dream. It is not a dream. That’s the reality,” said Tkachuk, who was traded to Florida two summers ago with that goal in mind. ” I can not believe it. I can not believe it. …I can’t believe how good these two years have been. I’m so grateful for this group of guys. It’s the best place, the best guys. It’s something really special here with what we have.
Mattias Janmark scored the goal for Edmonton and Stuart Skinner stopped 19 shots for the Oilers. The Oilers also failed to end the Canadian title drought; It has already been 1993 since a team based in Canada won the Cup.
Montreal was the last to do so, 30 seasons ago. Since then, seven Canadian city teams – Vancouver in 1994 and 2011, Calgary in 2004, the Oilers in 2006, Ottawa in 2007 and the Canadiens in 2021 – have tried to win titles seven times, and all have been in vain.
South Florida now has one of everything when it comes to titles in America’s four major professional sports leagues. The Miami Dolphins have been champions twice, the then-Florida Marlins have been champions twice, the Miami Heat have three titles and now the Panthers have joined them. celebration.
Welcome, Stanley. The Panthers were waiting. Maurice hoisted the Cup near the bench, closed his eyes to control his emotion and let out a cry. General manager Bill Zito didn’t even bother trying not to yell. And in the stands, Tkachuk’s family – his father, Keith, never won a Cup – rejoiced in the moment, knowing his last name would soon be Lord Stanley.
“It’s for them,” Tkachuk said.
Bobrovsky was as cool as possible, even in the most important moments. Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard had a good look from the right circle with about 14 seconds left in the second period; Bobrovsky blocked the shot and the puck bounced off him and into the air.
No problem. Bobrovsky picked up his stick and smacked the puck again, more like he was playing morning pickleball in a park than in the biggest game of his life – literally, the last line of defense against the Oilers and against a piece of history as the Panthers. desperately struggled to avoid.
Florida led that title series 3-0, then was outscored 18-5 in Games 4, 5 and 6 to lose three chances to win the Cup. Edmonton was one win away from becoming the second team in NHL history to win the Cup after losing the first three games; Toronto did it to Detroit in 1942, and no team has pulled off such a comeback since.
Edmonton almost succeeded. Almost.
“They should have their heads held high,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “There is something to be proud of. »
The Panthers tapped seven-time Grammy winner Alanis Morissette — she was born in Canada and acquired dual U.S. citizenship in 2005 — to sing the national anthems. Almost no one could hear him; Oilers fans drowned it out for “O Canada,” Panthers fans did the same for “The Star-Spangled Banner.” After that, Panthers legend Roberto Luongo hit the ceremonial bass drum; he urged fans to “let’s go” with an additional word that had to be beeped several times.
“We have a great team on our side,” said Luongo, whose number was retired by the Panthers and is now part of the team’s front office. “And the boys really dug deep.”
The pre-match was noisy. The stage was set.
And the teams came out absolutely fired up.
The Panthers scored the first goal just 4:27 into the game when Verhaeghe waved his stick on the puck that was shot from the left side by Evan Rodrigues and had just enough to redirect it past Skinner for a 1-0 lead – Florida’s first lead since late in Game 3.
They waited more than a week to return to the summit. They stayed there for a little over two minutes.
Janmark supported Florida defense and beat Bobrovsky over the right shoulder at 6:44, tying things up and ensuring that this Game 7 of the Finals – like the previous 17 such games – would not end 1-0.
It stayed that way despite wild ebbs and flows – the Oilers controlled long stretches, the Panthers would counter, back and forth – until Reinhart scored late in the second to give Florida a 2-1 lead . It capped a wild sequence, one where Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov found himself 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 make it stand.
“The determination,” Maurice said, “was clear.”
Florida was 44-0-3 before Monday when leading after two periods this season. She was also 85-2-6 in that situation in the two seasons under coach Maurice.
They slammed the door one last time. And the Cup was their reward.
“This is the best moment of my life so far,” said veteran Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. “Nothing tops that.”
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AP NHL Playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup And https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL