The Florida Panthers are once again Stanley Cup champions.
The Panthers, thanks to a historic four-goal night from Sam Reinhart, rolled over the Edmonton Oilers and grabbed a dominant 5-1 win in Game 6 on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena in South Florida. That officially closed out the series 4-2 and gave the Panthers back-to-back titles and their second championship in franchise history.
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The Panthers beat the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final last season, too, though that one went to seven games. They are now the first team to win back-to-back titles since the Tampa Bay Lightning did so in 2020 and 2021. The Oilers’ loss also ensured that Canada’s dry spell — the country hasn’t had a team win a Stanley Cup since 1993 — continues.
The Panthers entered Tuesday’s contest in Sunrise, Florida, coming off a commanding win in Game 5 up in Alberta. They cruised to a 5-2 win on Saturday night, which put them on the brink of the championship after just barely slipping in overtime in Game 4 last week.
The Panthers didn’t waste any time on Tuesday, either. Reinhart came up with a turnover and put in a wild off-balanced goal not even five minutes into the game to put Florida on the board right away.
Matthew Tkachuk made it 2-0 by the end of the first, too, after he slipped into the center of the ice and found himself completely wide open. His goal, which came with about 45 seconds left in the period, marked the sixth straight game this series in which the Panthers have scored multiple goals in the first.
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Then late in the second period, after things started getting a bit chippy out on the ice, Reinhart got credit for another goal after Aleksander Barkov banked it in off his skate.
Reinhart then added one more goal in the third period for good measure when he threw in a deep goal on an empty net. That gave him the first ever postseason hat trick in Panthers history, and the first one in a Game 6 of a Stanley Cup Final since 1973.
Just minutes later, Reinhart scored his fourth goal of the night on an empty net again. He’s just the sixth player in NHL history to have four goals in a single game in the Stanley Cup Final, and the first since 1957. Vasily Podkolzin finally broke the shutout for the Oilers shortly after that goal with a quick one of his own, but it came way too late. The Panthers simply rode it out the rest of the way to secure their win.
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Though he didn’t score on Tuesday night, Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe trophy. He had 15 goals throughout the postseason, including five in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Oilers haven’t won a title since the 1989-90 campaign, which marked their fifth championship in seven seasons. This was their third Stanley Cup Final appearance in the last two decades.
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more from Oilers vs. Panthers in Game 6 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final:
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