The Florida Panthers did not want to face the prospect of heading back to Edmonton for another deciding Game 7 against the Oilers, and after blowing a three-goal lead in a Game 4 loss on home ice last week, the reigning Stanley Cup Champions dominated Edmonton 5-2 in Game 5 and jumped on the Oilers early in a 5-2 win at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday to clinch their second straight Cup.
The Panthers had a number of players stand out in their run to the championship, including Sam Bennett – who scored 15 playoff goals and was named the 2025 Conn Smythe Trophy winner – and veteran Brad Marchand, who scored five goals in the Cup Final and an overtime breakaway goal in Game 2, but the hero in the clincher was former Buffalo Sabre Sam Reinhart.
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Reinhart, who was dealt to Florida in July 2021 for goalie Devon Levi and a 2022 first round pick (Jiri Kulich), scored the opening goal less than five minutes into the first period, and then added three more in the second and third period to become the first player to score four goals in a Stanley Cup Final game since Maurice “The Rocket” Richard in 1957.
Had it not been for Vasily Podkolzin’s late goal to break Sergei Bobrovsky’s shutout bid, the former 2014 second overall pick would have scored the game-winning goal in both Panthers Cup-clinching victories. Along with Reinhart, former Sabres Dmitri Kulikov and Evan Rodrigues earned their second straight Cup victory.
Former Sabre Jeff Skinner was not much of a factor in the Cup Final, going pointless in three games vs. the Panthers, while Evander Kane continued his undisciplined play, earning his sixth minor penalty of the series for a slash on Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and his second misconduct for a swipe at Matthew Tkachuk. Kane finished the series with one goal in six games and 32 penalty minutes.
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