The Stanley Cup is back in South Florida.
For the second straight season, the Florida Panthers are the champions of the hockey world, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 to win the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final 4-2.
It didn’t take long for the Panthers to get on the board, and it was an amazing play by Sam Reinhart that got the job done.
Picking the puck up just outside the Oilers blue line, Reinhart walked into the zone and dangled around Mattias Ekholm before firing the puck over the glove of Stuart Skinner to give Florida a 1-0 lead at the 4:36 mark.
Florida doubled their lead late in the period off a great showing of patience.
Eetu Luostarinen brought the puck over Edmonton’s blue line on a 2 on 2 rush with Anton Lundell, but then Eetu slowed down and waited for a streaking Matthew Tkachuk, who had just come off Florida’s bench, while Lundell went to the net.
Tkachuk corralled the puck, skated between the circles and wired a shot past a screened Skinner to send Florida into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead.
The Panthers did an excellent job of limiting the Oilers opportunities during the second period, long enough for them to extend their lead once again.
A rebound off the blocker of Skinner hit the ice and died in the left circle, where it was quickly picked up by Sasha Barkov,
The captain one-timed the puck toward the net, but instead of shooting to score, Barkov shot the puck off the skate of Reinhart for a perfect deflection into a wide-open net.
Florida spent the majority of the third period taking the Oilers to Shutdown City, limiting their zone time and opportunities despite them playing for their season.
To put a bow on the evening, Reinhart completed his hat trick by scoring into the vacated Oilers net with 6:34 to go, giving the Panthers a 4-0 lead and sealing the championship.
Then he popped in a fourth goal with 5:05 to go, just for good measure.
It was a very appropriate ending to the Panthers second straight title run.
Sure, Vasily Podkolzin scored to run Bob’s shutout in the final minutes, but that’s fine.
On to the parade!
QUICK THOUGHTS
Reinhart has scored in four straight games, racking up ten points during the goal streak.
Tkachuk has points in four straight and is up to seven points during the Final.
It’s a five-game point streak for Lundell, who has six points over the course of the run.
Luostarinen has three points over his past two games and six over his past four.
Barkov has logged five assists over his past three games.
Carter Verhaeghe finished the Final with nine points in the six games and a total of seven goals and 23 points during the playoffs.
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Photo caption: Jun 17, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the first period in game six of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena. (Jim Rassol-Imagn Images)