You can finally exhale, Florida Panthers fans.
Florida not only avoided blowing a 3-0 lead to Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers with Monday’s 2-1 victory in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena, it also lifted hockey’s most coveted trophy for the first time in franchise history.
The Panthers can finally call themselves champions, while the Oilers fell just one win short of their first title since 1990. They also fell one win short of becoming the first team to overcome a 3-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Final since the Toronto Maple Leafs did so against the Detroit Red Wings in 1942.
THE FLORIDA PANTHERS HAVE WON THE STANLEY CUP IN GAME 7 🏆<br><br>FROM LOSING IN THE FINAL LAST SEASON TO WINNING THEIR FIRST CUP IN FRANCHISE HISTORY 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/BGQq8v6kno">pic.twitter.com/BGQq8v6kno</a>
Carter Verhaeghe opened the scoring for the victors in the first period, while Sam Reinhart put them ahead for good in the second.
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky resembled the dominant version of himself who started the series and turned away 23 of the 24 shots he faced. Only Mattias Janmark bested him in the first period, and he and the Florida defense withstood all of the visitors’ comeback efforts down the stretch.
Social media had plenty of reactions to the thrilling win:
THE FLORIDA PANTHERS HAVE WON THEIR FIRST STANLEY CUP IN FRANCHISE HISTORY 🏆 <a href="https://t.co/aIAuY0kc6Y">pic.twitter.com/aIAuY0kc6Y</a>
WE ARE STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!!!! <a href="https://t.co/Yr17FW7AhM">pic.twitter.com/Yr17FW7AhM</a>
The Florida Panthers follow up a Stanley Cup loss with a Stanley Cup win. Quite the run, three games prior to tonight aside.
2 Super Bowls.<br>2 World Series.<br>3 NBA Finals.<br>And now, Stanley.<br><br>South Florida. One of everything. Finally.
Bobrovsky tonight 🧱 <a href="https://t.co/84a0hzFq8Z">pic.twitter.com/84a0hzFq8Z</a>
Big fricking save for Bobrovsky!! He's stepped it up tonight in a big way!
Sergei Bobrovsky is the fictitious goalie our dads all invented in the basement who "has never been scored on." Diving, flopping, flailing. What a Game 7.
Bobrovsky the last 20 min <a href="https://t.co/wBDdtlwiIE">pic.twitter.com/wBDdtlwiIE</a>
SHE'S A STANLEY CUP CHAMPION <a href="https://t.co/30WhwiYlNt">pic.twitter.com/30WhwiYlNt</a>
What a freaking series … and what a freaking Game 7. How many hockey fans were born tonight?<br><br>Wow. <br><br>Congrats, Panthers. Great show, Oil.
The Montreal Canadiens remain the last Canadian NHL team to win a Stanley Cup, back in 1993. A few months later, the Florida Panthers played the first NHL game in franchise history.
HUGE NIGHT FOR ALL OF US LIFELONG PANTHERS FANS EVER SINCE WE SAW JUST NOW THAT THEY WON THE STANLEY CUP
All the momentum was on Edmonton’s side following three straight wins, making a fast start all the more imperative for the Panthers in front of the home crowd.
And they got just that, although it was quite short-lived. Verhaeghe started the scoring in the first five minutes of the contest, which marked Florida’s first lead since Game 3. However, that didn’t even last three entire minutes, as Janmark countered for Edmonton with the equalizer in a frantic back-and-forth start.
WHAT A DEFLECTION BY CARTER VERHAEGHE 😱<br><br>1-0 CATS IN GAME 7 <a href="https://t.co/OSpgyYSSE2">pic.twitter.com/OSpgyYSSE2</a>
MATHIAS JANMARK GETS IT RIGHT BACK 🤯<br><br>THE START OF GAME 7 IS ELECTRIC <a href="https://t.co/NqzVgAPRYT">pic.twitter.com/NqzVgAPRYT</a>
Stuart Skinner and Bobrovsky settled in from there ahead of a monumental momentum switch in the second period.
It looked like the Oilers were going to score the go-ahead goal with a persistent attack that seemed to beat Bobrovsky, but Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov swept the puck away before it found the net.
Reinhart took it from there and fired a wrist shot into the net on the other end to turn what appeared to be a sure one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead.
SAM REINHART PUTS THE CATS BACK ON TOP 🚨 <a href="https://t.co/pQWBxrYSFa">pic.twitter.com/pQWBxrYSFa</a>
The rest of the game was determined by Bobrovsky and the Florida defense.
Edmonton continued to attack the net, including during multiple near scrums in front of the Panthers’ net, just to be turned away every single time. The home team didn’t create many scoring opportunities for themselves, but they were firmly focused on the defensive side of the ice.
SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY THIS STAYED OUT OF THE NET 🤯 <a href="https://t.co/L7J4wErrXv">pic.twitter.com/L7J4wErrXv</a>
BOBROVSKY. THAT'S THE TWEET 😱 <a href="https://t.co/W4QoLGKInP">pic.twitter.com/W4QoLGKInP</a>
It was a closing stretch that will forever be remembered by the Panthers and their fans, and it resulted in their first Stanley Cup.
