With a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday night, Maurice’s long-held feeling that this group was special proved true. The Panthers had to comeback in the final game of the season after losing three consecutive games to the Oilers, becoming the first team since 1945 to lose the first three games of the Finals and force a comeback in Game 7.
Sam Reinhart scored the game-winner late in the second period, his 10th goal of the playoffs. Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves for Florida. Stuart Skinner stopped 19 shots for the Oilers.
When Morris was hired, he wanted to “develop a style of play that you could play in the playoffs.” He turned a free, offensive juggernaut into the NHL’s best defensive team; The Panthers allowed only 2.41 goals per game in the regular season this year, which is tied for the lowest in the league.
“Playoff hockey is different. We talk about this in training camp, and it’s tough,” Morris said after the Game 2, 4-1 win. “…I believe for our veteran core over the last two years, this is game 204, and we’re working really hard to get to game 204.”
Game 7 was the Corps’ 209th game under Morris. This was the last thing he needed to achieve his goal. The Panthers had to do it the hard way, overcoming a furious comeback from the Oilers to even the series, but this was a group Morris had prepared to do the hard way.
“It’s not a dream anymore,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said on the ABC broadcast after the game. “This is not a dream; this is reality. I can’t believe it. …I can’t believe how good these two years have been. I’m so grateful for this group of people. …It’s really something special with what we have.
Rigorous testing and hard-fought victories summarized what Morris came to Florida to teach. This deprived the Oilers of their first title since 1990 and took the Stanley Cup away from the Canadian team again; The Montreal Canadiens remained the last Canadian club to fly it in 1993.
Early in the first period, the Panthers led for the first time since Game 3; Edmonton scored first in Games 4, 5 and 6. Carter Verhaeghe deflected a shot from Ivan Rodriguez off Skinner’s glove just 4:27 minutes in, easing the tension of the anxious home crowd.
But the Oilers, who had breakaway success against Bobrovsky early in the series, needed barely more than two minutes to respond. A pass from Cody Ceci bounced off Mattias Janmark, and Janmark needed no further invitations to slide past Bobrovsky and tie the score at 6:44.
With the scores level, tension increased throughout the remainder of the first period and into the second period. There was constant pressure on the teams and no one was able to penetrate each other’s defense. Both teams were committed to defending in the middle of the ice and stopping their opponents on the perimeter. Every inch of space on the ice had to be fought for; Nothing was given.
The Oilers free-rushed the Panthers with stretch passes and motion through the neutral zone in Games 4, 5 and 6. The Panthers returned to their identity in Game 7, playing very tight defense with tight ends and maintaining strong control over the flow of the game. Even when Edmonton built momentum and applied pressure, Florida never panicked – creating a steady calm in the first three games of the series, when the Panthers pressured the Oilers and gave them little room to breathe .
Edmonton got an start with a shot from Warren Foegele that penetrated the crease with 5:01 left in the second period, and the puck slipped past Bobrowski in the blue. But Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov cleared the puck out of danger away from the goal line, and just seconds later, Sam Reinhart picked up his layup on the run to give the Panthers the lead back at 15:11.
Florida’s most tense moment came with just over seven minutes remaining in the third period, when a loose puck around the net fell to superstar Connor McDavid for a potential goal. But McDavid – who was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP – couldn’t stop the puck, Zack Hyman’s frantic backhand attempt didn’t succeed, and Eetu Luostarinen got behind Bobrovsky to find the opening and end the threat. fallen.
After disappointing performances in the last three games, Bobrovsky returned to form at the most important moment. Even when things sometimes got chaotic around his crease, the puck never found a way in, whether blocked by Bobrovsky or blocked by a skater in front of him.
The Panthers were under tremendous pressure in the final minutes, but after two years of being willing to win games with defense and a tireless commitment to each other, it was fitting to hold on in the final minutes of Game 7 to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. Was. ,
Florida did it the hard way, as Morris designed.
“Now I’m going to lift the Stanley Cup,” Tkachuk said. “I dont know what to say.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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