Canada will have to wait at least another year before a club north of the border can hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Reinhart’s late second-period goal lifted the Florida Panthers to a 2-1 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the NHL Final on Monday, securing the home team’s first title and denying Canadian hockey fans the long-awaited return of the prized trophy.
Reinhart’s goal came moments after Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov cleared a puck that was precariously sliding in the crease behind goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. The desperation clearance launched a Panthers rush, culminating in Reinhart’s low wrister from the circle that beat Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner, an Edmonton native.
Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, the son of American hockey great Keith Tkachuk, recalled leaving his house Monday afternoon with his dad and brother, Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators, wishing him well. “All I wanted to do was to win it, not only for everybody out here, but I really wanted to win it for those two especially,” an emotional Matthew Tkachuk told ABC/ESPN.
As his players paraded with the Stanley Cup, veteran Panthers coach Paul Maurice said he was thinking about loved ones in and around Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, who supported him over the years. “Hey Dad, your name’s going up [on the Stanley Cup] with your heroes, [Jean] Béliveau, [Maurice] Richard, [Gordie] Howe, [Ted] Lindsay, Maurice,” Maurice told Canadian broadcaster Sportsnet.
Before moving to South Florida, Maurice spent parts of nine seasons behind the Winnipeg Jets bench. Even as he enjoyed the view from pro hockey’s mountaintop, Maurice gave a shoutout to his old colleagues in Manitoba. “I’m just lucky,” he said. “If I could have one thing more, it’d be for the Winnipeg Jets to win the next Stanley Cup.”
### How the Stanley Cup was won
Since the Montreal Canadiens’ victory in 1993, the Stanley Cup has been won four times by Florida teams: the Panthers on Monday and the Tampa Bay Lightning three times (2004, 2020, 2021).
Florida's win capped the coaching legacy of Panthers boss Paul Maurice, whose career behind the bench began in 1995-96 with the Hartford Whalers. Oilers star Connor McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the outstanding player throughout the playoffs. Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky shook off three straight losses to stop 21 of 22 shots Monday, standing tall against a barrage of Oilers shots late in the third.
Matthew Tkachuk hoisted the Stanley Cup a week after his Chaminade College Preparatory School classmate Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics won the NBA title.
Edmonton had been seeking to become only the fifth team in NHL history to rally from a 3-0 series deficit when it took the ice at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida. Just 1½ weeks ago, the Panthers appeared invincible after their 4-3 victory in Edmonton in Game 3, giving them a 3-0 series lead. The high-powered Oilers, who scored the fourth-most goals in hockey this regular season, had put only four pucks past Bobrovsky in the first three games.
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