Panthers get their ‘perfect outcome,’ win 1st Cup
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Greg Wyshynski, 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 during 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, Barkov 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 had 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 special since day one.”
The Oilers were making their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 2006.
This was the furthest Edmonton superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl had carried their team in the postseason. Neither player had a point in Game 7, with McDavid going scoreless in the last two games of the series. He finished as the playoffs’ leading scorer with 42 points. Despite the loss, McDavid was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason’s most valuable player.
The energy in the building for Game 7 could be felt well before puck drop. A significant number of Oilers fans purchased tickets for the game, cheering Edmonton players during warmups and loudly singing “O Canada” over guest anthem singer Alanis Morissette. Panthers fans belted their own lively rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in response.
The Panthers opened the scoring moments after an early power play ended, following a high-sticking call on Edmonton’s Warren Foegele. Florida winger Evan Rodrigues flung the puck toward the Edmonton net where he found Carter Verhaeghe alone in front, tipping it home for his 11th goal of the playoffs at 4:27 to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
“They say it’s the hardest trophy to win in sports, and you can’t imagine how hard it is, until you do it,” Rodrigues said. “Getting to Game 7, it took pressure off of us, and we did it the hard way. But it was a perfect outcome.”
Teams that scored first in Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final owned an all-time record of 12-5, including eight straight wins dating back to 1994.
But Mattias Janmark gave the Oilers fans in Sunrise a reason to cheer just 2:17 later, taking a rink-length outlet pass from defenseman Cody Ceci and converting a breakaway goal for his fourth of the playoffs to knot the score at 1-1.
The Panthers took the lead in the second period in a “hockey is a game of inches” sequence.
Foegele shot the puck with a crowd in front of Bobrovsky. It deflected over the goaltender’s arm and fell to the ice next to him, where defenseman Dmitry Kulikov cleared it to the corner while falling down.
Kulikov’s play ended up as the secondary assist on Reinhart’s go-ahead goal at 15:11, a wrist shot through a screen that beat goalie Stuart Skinner. It was Reinhart’s 10th goal of the playoffs and first since Game 3.
Florida took a lead into the third period for the 10th time, having gone 9-0 in that situation during the postseason. Over the past two postseasons, they were 18-0 when leading after two.
In Stanley Cup Final history, teams were 13-1 when leading after two periods in a Game 7. The lone team to rally? Those 1942 Maple Leafs, who won the Cup after trailing the Detroit Red Wings 1-0.
The Oilers pushed in the third period but couldn’t find the equalizer, despite some chaotic moments in front of Bobrovsky.
Plastic rats, gloves and sticks littered the ice as the Panthers celebrated.
“It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it, everything was worth it,” Bobrovsky said. “It was all for this moment that I want to enjoy.”
McDavid said it was “Cup or bust” after last season. It took until the last possible game of the season for his championship push to end and his nation’s Stanley Cup drought to continue. No Canadian team has won the Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
“We lost to a very deserving team,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said.
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball has banned two fans who interfered with Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts during a World Series game at Yankee Stadium from attending games at big league ballparks.
The league sent a letter to Austin Capobianco and John P. Hansen this week informing them of the decision.
“On Oct. 29, 2024, during Game 4 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, you interfered with play by intentionally and forcefully grabbing a player. Your conduct posed a serious risk to the health and safety of the player and went far over the line of acceptable fan behavior,” said the letter, the contents of which were first reported by the New York Post and later obtained by The Associated Press.
“Based on your conduct, Major League Baseball is banning you indefinitely from all MLB stadiums, offices, and other facilities,” the letter said. “You are also hereby banned indefinitely from attending any events sponsored by or associated with MLB. Please be advised that if you are discovered at any MLB property or event, you will be removed from the premises and subject to arrest for trespass.”
MLB has previously issued leaguewide bans for fans who trespass on the field or threaten baseball personnel. A fan who approached Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. at Colorado’s Coors Field in 2023 received a similar ban.
Capobianco and Hansen were ejected from the game on Oct. 29 and banned from Game 5 the following night.
Betts leaped at the retaining wall in foul territory and caught Gleyber Torres‘ pop fly in the first inning, but a fan in the first row with a gray Yankees road jersey grabbed Betts’ glove with both hands and pulled the ball out. Another fan grabbed Betts’ bare hand.
The Yankees at the time called the behavior “egregious and unacceptable.”
The team said Friday the two fans MLB banned were not season-ticket holders. The Post reported Friday that the person who is the season ticket holder was not at the game and will be allowed to keep them.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs and free agent Colin Rea have agreed to a one-year, $5 million contract, reuniting the right-hander with manager Craig Counsell, a source told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers on Friday.
The 34-year-old Rea made one appearance with Milwaukee in 2021 and then pitched in Japan during the 2022 season before returning to the Brewers. He went 12-6 with a 4.29 ERA over 27 starts and five relief appearances for the NL Central champions last year.
Counsell managed Milwaukee for nine years before he was hired by Chicago in November 2023.
Rea gives Counsell and Chicago another versatile arm for their pitching staff. The Cubs have Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd for their rotation, but Rea could push Javier Assad for the fifth spot or work out of the bullpen.
Rea became a free agent when Milwaukee declined its $5.5 million club option on his contract in November. The Iowa native was paid a $1 million buyout.
Rea was selected by San Diego in the 12th round of the 2011 amateur draft out of Indiana State. He made his big league debut with the Padres in 2015.
He pitched for the Cubs during the 2020 season, going 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA in nine appearances, including two starts.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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