SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers have officially entered dynasty territory.
With a dominant 5-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night, the Panthers became the NHL’s first back-to-back champions since the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021 — and just the third team this century to accomplish the feat.
Sam Reinhart delivered a performance for the ages, scoring four goals — becoming just the fourth player in league history to notch that many in a Stanley Cup Final game. His hat trick goal sent a storm of plastic rats and hats onto the ice in Sunrise, as fans celebrated what felt like the inevitable: the Panthers’ second consecutive title.
Fittingly, it was Matthew Tkachuk, the emotional heartbeat of the franchise, who scored the Cup-clinching goal. Sergei Bobrovsky, ever the backbone in net, turned away 28 of 29 shots, with the lone blemish coming from Vasily Podkolzin in garbage time after the outcome had long been decided.
Chants of “We want the Cup!” echoed through Amerant Bank Arena as the final seconds ticked away. The Panthers already had it — and now they’ll keep it for another year.
Florida has now won 11 of 12 playoff series since acquiring Tkachuk and hiring head coach Paul Maurice in the summer of 2022. The only setback in that stretch came in the 2023 Final loss to Vegas, a series in which the Panthers battled through major injuries. This time, they were healthy, focused, and ruthless.
The Panthers’ deep core — featuring Tkachuk, Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov, and Sam Bennett — led the charge, bolstered by savvy trade deadline pickups Brad Marchand and Seth Jones. Marchand, who scored six goals in the series, brought veteran championship poise. Bennett finished the postseason with a league-high 15 goals and took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
From start to finish, the Panthers overwhelmed the Oilers, who never found answers for Florida’s relentless forecheck and balanced attack. Edmonton’s goaltending carousel continued in Game 6 with Stuart Skinner back between the pipes, but once again, defensive lapses and his own costly mistake on Reinhart’s second goal sealed the Oilers’ fate.
Connor McDavid, despite flashes of brilliance, was neutralized by a suffocating Panthers defense led by Barkov, Jones, and Bobrovsky. McDavid finished the Final with seven points but was left without a Cup once again in his second career appearance in the championship round.
For Canada, the Stanley Cup drought now stretches to 31 seasons. The last Canadian-based team to hoist the Cup was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. In that span, Sun Belt teams — particularly from Florida — have dominated, winning five of the past six titles.
This year’s championship run was a gauntlet: dispatching Tampa Bay in five games, outlasting Toronto in seven, dismantling Carolina in five, and finally, overpowering Edmonton in six. It underscored just how methodical and mature this Panthers group has become under Maurice, the league’s third-winningest coach all-time, now with two titles to his name.
And for Brad Marchand, the 36-year-old forward added a second Cup to his résumé, 14 years after his first with the Boston Bruins in 2011 — the third-longest gap between championships in league history.
From the buildup to the blowout finish, the message is clear: the Florida Panthers are not just champions — they’re building something historic.
