Panthers edge Oilers in Game 7, win first Stanley Cup title - ESPN

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers captured their first Stanley Cup in franchise history with a 2-1 Game 7 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night, in a thrilling conclusion to a classic playoff series.

Winger Sam Reinhart's second-period goal proved to be the winner, as goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves to close out the series — and help his team avoid postseason infamy.

The Panthers' win averted one of the most epic collapses in sports history. Florida had built a 3-0 series lead, but the Oilers roared back with three straight wins, just the third time in NHL history that a team forced a Game 7 after losing the first three games of a Stanley Cup Final.

But the legacy of the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs remains intact; they're still the only team to rally from a 3-0 deficit in the Final to win the Cup, after the Oilers came up short.

Instead, Florida became just the third team in the past 40 years to win the Stanley Cup after losing in the Final in the previous postseason, as the Panthers fell in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023.

Florida captain Aleksander Barkov was awarded the Cup by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, and after his skate with it, he handed if off to Bobrovsky.

«He deserves it, he's been here for a long time, and has been our best player for a long time,» Barkov said of Bobrovsky. «He played incredible.»

Florida coach Paul Maurice — who joined the franchise two seasons ago after stepping down as coach of the Winnipeg Jets and has been to the Final twice in two years — won for the first time in a lengthy career.

«I've been chasing that for a long time,» Maurice said after handing off the Stanley Cup to his coaching staff. «It's got nothing to do with the coach, this group has been