The Florida Panthers have shattered a 31-year curse for Canadian NHL teams, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in a nail-biting Game 7 to claim their first-ever Stanley Cup! The victory marks a redemptive moment for the Panthers after falling short in last year's finals against Las Vegas.
Carter Verhaeghe opened the scoring just 4:27 into the game, tipping in Evan Rodrigues' shot during a chaotic scramble. But the Oilers' Mattias Janmark silenced the roaring Sunrise crowd minutes later with a slick equalizer off Cody Ceci's precision pass.
The game-changer came in the second period: After Dmitry Kulikov made a goal-line save that would make superheroes jealous, Sam Reinhart fired a missile from the wing that left Oilers' goalie Stuart Skinner stranded. The Panthers then held on through a third-period siege, with Sergei Bobrovsky's clutch saves preserving their lead.
Canada's championship drought continues despite Edmonton's legendary comeback from 3-0 down in the series. The Oilers nearly replicated the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs' miracle run but fell just short of hockey immortality.
'This is why we play the game,' said Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov during the trophy celebration. The win caps off a Cinderella story for a franchise that hadn't reached the finals until 2023.
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The Florida Panthers have shattered a 31-year curse for Canadian NHL teams, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in a nail-biting Game 7 to claim their first-ever Stanley Cup! 
The victory marks a redemptive moment for the Panthers after falling short in last year's finals against Las Vegas.
Carter Verhaeghe opened the scoring just 4:27 into the game, tipping in Evan Rodrigues' shot during a chaotic scramble. But the Oilers' Mattias Janmark silenced the roaring Sunrise crowd minutes later with a slick equalizer off Cody Ceci's precision pass.
The game-changer came in the second period: After Dmitry Kulikov made a goal-line save that would make superheroes jealous, Sam Reinhart fired a missile from the wing that left Oilers' goalie Stuart Skinner stranded. The Panthers then held on through a third-period siege, with Sergei Bobrovsky's clutch saves preserving their lead.
Canada's championship drought continues despite Edmonton's legendary comeback from 3-0 down in the series. The Oilers nearly replicated the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs' miracle run but fell just short of hockey immortality.
'This is why we play the game,' said Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov during the trophy celebration. The win caps off a Cinderella story for a franchise that hadn't reached the finals until 2023.
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