The Florida Panther are back-to-back champions after eliminating the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup final for the second consecutive year.
Florida cruised to a 5-1 win at home against Edmonton in Game 6 on Tuesday behind a four-goal performance from Sam Reinhart. Matthew Tkachuk added the other goal for the Panthers.
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Sam Reinhart drew first blood for Florida about five minutes into the game. He pilfered the puck from an Edmonton defender at the Oilers blue line, snaked toward the goal and beat Stuart Skinner glove side.
Matthew Tkachuk doubled the lead late in the first after drifting through the Edmonton zone and firing a shot through traffic and past Skinner.
In the second, Florida extended their advantage after a shot on goal was stopped but fumbled by Skinner, leading to Aleksander Barkov corralling the rebound and firing a shot across the crease that bounced off Reinhart’s skate an in.
Reinhart would score twice more in the third period, both empty net goals, while Vasily Podkolzin clawed one back for the Oilers and ended Sergei Bobrovsky’s shutout bid.
Skinner started Tuesday’s game after he was pulled in Game 4 in favour of Calvin Pickard, who went on to start Game 5, which Edmonton lost 5-2.
Up 3-2 in the finals, the Panthers are just one win away from being crowned champions for a second year in a row, having defeated Edmonton in seven games last year.
If the Oilers could force a Game 7 again this year, they’d have the benefit of playing the winner-take-all game in Edmonton on Friday.
Edmonton’s quest for a sixth cup will be difficult but not impossible — just eight teams in NHL history have overcome a 3-2 deficit in the finals to win the Stanley Cup.
