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Last week, we ranked our Way-Too-Early Top 25. Now, we’ve got some questions about the teams that made the cut. Will new quarterbacks be able to settle in before the season starts? Will new coaches be able to gain the trust of their players? And will exceptional units be able to stay strong?

Here are our writers’ biggest spring questions for each team.

Will the Bulldogs be able to replace their departing defensive stars?

Georgia’s pass defense was great again last season, ranking sixth in the FBS in yards allowed per attempt. But the Bulldogs will have to do some reloading in the secondary with safeties Javon Bullard and Tykee Smith and lockdown cornerback Kamari Lassiter departing for the NFL. Coach Kirby Smart has loaded up on highly regarded defensive backs, and piecing together a reliable rotation will be a key in the spring. Cornerbacks Daniel Harris and Julian Humphrey nearly left via the transfer portal, but Georgia’s coaches persuaded them to stick around. They’ll be in line for starting spots, along with junior Daylen Everette. All-American Malaki Starks returns at free safety, and Joenel Aguero seems to be in line for the nickelback (star) spot. Senior Dan Jackson has the most experience at strong safety, and junior JaCorey Thomas and incoming five-star freshman K.J. Bolden could get long looks in the spring. — Mark Schlabach


How will quarterback Will Howard adjust to a new offense?

Howard comes from Kansas State with the pressure to build off what Kyle McCord, who transferred to Syracuse, did for the first 11 games of last season before a third straight defeat to Michigan. How the versatile Howard (2,490 total yards and 28 total touchdowns for Kansas State in 2023) fits and adapts to the offense for coach Ryan Day and new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly will be the biggest factor in determining how different things will be in Columbus in 2024. — Blake Baumgartner


Who will win the quarterback battle?

Bo Nix’s years of eligibility have finally expired, and Oregon will need to play a new quarterback this coming season. In some ways, the biggest spring question for the Ducks has already been answered as coach Dan Lanning & Co. pounced on the transfer portal to bring in not only Dillon Gabriel from Oklahoma but five-star recruit Dante Moore from UCLA. Coming off a 3,660-yard, 30-touchdown season at Oklahoma, Gabriel appears to be the likely choice to start, but Moore’s potential has clearly been unrealized through one season. Moore struggled to lead the Bruins in his first year but showed flashes of what made him one of the top high school quarterbacks in his class. Oregon has national title aspirations, and answering its quarterback question (as well as outfitting an offense around said quarterback) will go a long way toward helping the Ducks actually hoist the trophy. — Paolo Uggetti


What will the passing game look like?

This time last season, Steve Sarkisian said getting Quinn Ewers comfortable and the deep passing game going was a point of emphasis. Ewers responded with 3,479 yards and 22 TDs to just six interceptions in Texas’ final Big 12 season, and the addition of Adonai Mitchell opened up deep looks for Xavier Worthy. But Mitchell, Worthy, Jordan Whittington and tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders are off to the NFL, and Johntay Cook‘s eight catches from last year lead the incumbents. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t talent on hand. Sarkisian added transfers Isaiah Bond (Alabama), Silas Bolden (Oregon State), Matthew Golden (Houston) and tight end Amari Niblack (Alabama), as well as star receiver Ryan Wingo, No. 27 in this year’s ESPN 300. Now, it’s just a matter of finding the right combinations and getting the timing down. — Dave Wilson


Can Riley Leonard shine in his first season with the Irish?

Leonard infamously has his mother text him “you suck” to keep him from getting a big head, but at the quarterback’s new home of Notre Dame, his more immediate concern might be proving to the Irish that, in fact, he’s pretty good. Yes, Leonard had a nice 1½ seasons at Duke before an injury (suffered against Notre Dame) upended his 2023 campaign, but the stakes are higher in South Bend. He’s a smart, competitive and athletic QB, but he’ll need to show he’s healthy and a good fit for coordinator Mike Denbrock’s offense. Last year, Denbrock’s passing game excelled with the deep ball at LSU. That has not been Leonard’s bread-and-butter, and he’ll need to show he can connect downfield if the Irish are to be as explosive as they’d like. — David Hale


Will all of the team’s transfer additions be able to transition easily?

Lane Kiffin once again hit the transfer portal hard with some talented additions to the roster at a variety of different positions. It’s never easy to incorporate new players into a locker room every year and continue to maintain chemistry. Kiffin himself would tell you that’s a challenge, especially in the world of name, image and likeness. But he has had success thus far, and with massive expectations surrounding Ole Miss’ program in 2024, the spring will be the first time the Rebels get everybody on the field together and see whether it all meshes. — Chris Low


Will the Tigers be able to have another strong defensive season?

Much was made last season of Missouri’s offensive production on its way to an 11-win season, but the way the Tigers played on defense might have been the real story. Getting back to that level will be key for Missouri, and that process starts this spring with a new defensive coordinator (Corey Batoon) and a slew of new faces in starting roles. The Tigers are losing 10 players on defense who either started or contributed significantly in 2023, including All-SEC performers Darius Robinson at end, Ty’Ron Hopper at linebacker and Kris Abrams-Draine at cornerback. — Low


Will Andy Kotelnicki be able to revitalize the Nittany Lions’ offense?

James Franklin fired offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich a day after the home loss to eventual national champion Michigan in November. Kotelnicki has come from Kansas to fill that position after helping revitalize the Jayhawks behind quarterback Jalon Daniels. Now Kotelnicki will be asked to do the same with former ESPN 300 signal-caller Drew Allar. Allar was fourth in the Big Ten in passing yards (2,631) and tied with Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa for the conference lead with 25 touchdowns. But he had only one 300-yard passing game (325 yards in a 38-15 win over West Virginia). — Baumgartner


Can Kalen DeBoer deal with the pressure of his new job?

The buy-in process has already started for new Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, who takes on the kind of challenge in replacing Nick Saban that would send a lot of coaches sprinting in the other direction. Spring practice poses the first chance to get the holdovers and some of the newcomers together on the same field with somebody not named Nick Saban running the show. DeBoer has won everywhere he has been and took Washington to the national championship game last season. But every move he makes and everything he says will be intensely scrutinized, especially by his players. — Low


Will the Utes thrive with a returning Cam Rising at quarterback?

Rising is back and healthy for one final run as one of the Utes’ most successful players ever. With two Pac-12 titles under his belt, Rising will lead Utah into the Big 12 after a year of not being able to play because of an offseason shoulder surgery. What adjustments will Kyle Whittingham and offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig make to give Rising his best chance at winning another conference title and maybe more? Running back Micah Bernard will return after missing the first 11 games of the 2023 season because of an injury, while an offensive line that has lost two of its best players will need a few young players to step up in order to protect Rising’s health and fuel his — and the offense’s — productivity. — Uggetti


What will Brent Brennan’s version of Arizona look like?

After a breakout season for the Wildcats under Jedd Fisch in 2023, the program saw the head coach leave for Washington. Brennan, on paper, could be a great hire, as he brings a reputation for being an offensive coach to a team that has a clear strength on that side of the ball. Keeping players such as quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan in the fold (for now) is crucial in order to maintain the offensive continuity that could make the Wildcats a force to be reckoned with in the new Big 12. But how Brennan sets the tone on defense — where the Wildcats improved significantly under Fisch over his time there (107th in points allowed in 2022 to 30th in 2023) — might be what determines how quickly he can succeed. — Uggetti


Will LSU be able to shore up its pass defense?

LSU’s pass defense was uncharacteristically porous last season, as the unit formerly known as “DBU” surrendered 255.6 passing yards per game, which ranked 118th in the FBS. Tigers coach Brian Kelly responded by firing defensive coordinator Matt House, safeties coach Kerry Cooks and cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples. Kelly poached Missouri’s Blake Baker to replace House, and former Tigers assistant Corey Raymond came back from Florida to help shore up the secondary. Jake Olsen followed Baker from Missouri to coach LSU’s safeties. Two Ohio State transfers, JK Johnson (who missed all of the 2023 season because of a leg injury after enrolling at LSU) and Jyaire Brown, might get long looks at cornerback. Freshman Ju’Juan Johnson set Louisiana high school career records as a quarterback but will start his LSU career at cornerback. Major Burns is back at one of the safety spots; Texas A&M transfer Jardin Gilbert should be in the mix on the back end as well. — Schlabach


Who will win the Wolverines’ quarterback battle?

With Jim Harbaugh’s mission of bringing a natty back to Ann Arbor now accomplished (and with Harbaugh now the coach of the Los Angeles Chargers), the Wolverines will go through a bit of a reset under new head coach Sherrone Moore. That starts and ends with who will replace J.J. McCarthy at quarterback. Jack Tuttle being approved for a seventh year of eligibility changes the dynamic for Moore. In addition to Tuttle, Jadyn Davis (No. 166 in the 2024 ESPN 300), the cycle’s fourth-best dual-threat quarterback, comes into the program as part of a 16th-ranked class and joins Jayden Denegal and Alex Orji on the roster. The beginning of the Moore era will be defined by who gets the keys to the offense. — Baumgartner


How ready is Jackson Arnold?

Arnold, the No. 1 quarterback in the 2023 ESPN 300 and the No. 3 overall prospect, was thrust into a starting role for the Alamo Bowl after the transfer of starting QB Dillon Gabriel, who decamped for Oregon while Jeff Lebby, the OC/QB coach who recruited Arnold, also left to be the Mississippi State coach. The good: Arnold threw for 339 yards and two TDs. The bad: He also threw three interceptions. With a full spring as the starter under new coordinators Seth Littrell and Joe Jon Finley, the spring will be a sprint to get Arnold up to speed for the Sooners’ first SEC season and one of the country’s toughest schedules. — Wilson


Can another elite transfer class help Florida State repeat as ACC champions?

The key players on the team that brought the Seminoles back to relevance last season have all gone, leaving the team in rebuild mode. The good news is Florida State signed yet another high-level transfer class to help plug some holes. But will they jell in time to continue building off what was accomplished last season? The answer might very well come down to transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who is back in the ACC after beginning his career at Clemson and then transferring to Oregon State in 2023. Uiagalelei wanted to come to Florida State to play for Mike Norvell; Norvell said he has seen enough from the quarterback’s skill set to believe he can put it all together in 2024. — Andrea Adelson


Will Tennessee’s new defensive backfield excel?

The NCAA poking around Tennessee’s program and its recruitment of quarterback Nico Iamaleava and then Tennessee’s fiery legal response to that probe has dominated offseason headlines. Tennessee fans can’t wait to see Iamaleava as QB1 for the Vols. He has tons of talent, but one of the things to watch this spring will be how Tennessee retools its defensive backfield. The starters from 2023 are all gone, and there was also an exodus in the portal. But the Vols like some of their younger players in the secondary and also did their own mining in the portal, including Oregon State cornerback Jermod McCoy. We get our first chance this spring to see Tennessee’s new-look defensive backfield. — Low


Can the Cowboys stay healthy?

You could ask that for just about any team, I know. But there’s simply not a lot that we don’t know about the Cowboys going into this spring, because they return so much of 2023’s production. Sure, there were some departures in Jaden Bray, Blaine Green and Jaden Nixon on offense, but they still return four of their top six pass-catchers. QB Alan Bowman is back for a seventh season, and Doak Walker award winner Ollie Gordon is, too, of course. In total, the Pokes return 79% of their offensive production and 74% of their defensive production. In a reformed Big 12 with Texas and Oklahoma gone, it seems like as good a time as ever for Mike Gundy’s team to make a mark on the conference. — Harry Lyles Jr.


Will the Wolfpack be able to improve their run game?

The biggest concern for NC State entering the spring is likely the same one that loomed over the past few springs, too: the ground game. Last year, NC State’s running backs totaled just 930 yards rushing, last among ACC offenses. In 2022, NC State was 10th in running back yards in the ACC and managed just three touchdowns from its stable of backs. The year before that, the Wolfpack were near the bottom of the league, too. In 2023, Dave Doeren’s group made up for the lack of production by using QB Brennan Armstrong and electric freshman receiver KC Concepcion as runners, too. That tactic might work again in 2024 (albeit with new QB Grayson McCall), but the far better course for the Pack would be figuring out what has ailed the backfield in recent years and getting that group on the right path. — Hale


What’s going on with the offense?

Is it painting with too broad a brush to just say, “the offense?” Cade Klubnik enters a make-or-break year. Garrett Riley’s scheme was often ineffective in 2023 but should be a better fit this year. The O-line struggled badly at times last year, but new position coach Matt Luke figures to have the unit improved. The receiving corps has been woefully thin in recent years, but Dabo Swinney likes his personnel. There’s upside everywhere on offense, but getting each group to take a step forward at the same time has been an issue. — Hale


How will Chris Klieman’s new offense look?

A big part of Kansas State’s success over the past two seasons — which included 19 wins and a Big 12 championship — was its offense. That offense is now losing four of the six offensive linemen who started in 2023, including Cooper Beebe, who will hear his name called at April’s NFL draft. The Wildcats also lose quarterback Will Howard and their only two players who were reliable pass-catchers in Phillip Brooks and Ben Sinnott (another NFL prospect). Dual-threat quarterback Avery Johnson steps in with a lot of potential, but there’s no question the Wildcats are entering spring with a lot to prove. — Lyles


Will the Cardinals be able to get their new-look offense into shape?

Similar to Florida State, Louisville signed a stellar transfer class to help not only fill holes on the roster but take the program beyond just appearing in the ACC championship game. As great as last season was, Louisville wants to win championships, and coach Jeff Brohm feels an urgency to deliver for his hometown team. Tyler Shough is expected to take over at quarterback after transferring from Texas Tech, and there are transfers coming in at receiver in Caullin Lacy and Ja’Corey Brooks to pair with Chris Bell to help get more consistency out of the passing game. Upgrading the offensive line was huge, too, as Louisville signed four from the portal. Getting the offense on the same page will obviously be big this spring and into fall camp. — Adelson


How will the Jayhawks adjust to changes along the offensive line?

In the 2021 and 2022 seasons, the Jayhawks allowed the fewest sacks in the Big 12, and over the past three years allowed an average of just 1.1 sacks per game. But now, they lose three starters on the offensive line in Dominick Puni, Mike Novitsky and Ar’maj Reed-Adams. In addition to those losses, OL coach Scott Fuchs joined Brian Callahan and the Tennessee Titans as an offensive assistant. That makes this transition more interesting, given the improvements the Jayhawks’ offensive line saw under his leadership. — Lyles


Can Brock Vandagriff adjust to a new system?

Quarterbacks Stetson Bennett IV and Carson Beck blocked Vandagriff from getting on the field often at Georgia. Vandagriff was one of the most highly regarded dual-threat prospects in the country in 2021. Lincoln Riley had hand-picked him to run his offense at Oklahoma before Vandagriff flipped from the Sooners to the Bulldogs. Vandagriff will have a clean canvas at Kentucky, and Wildcats coach Mark Stoops is hoping he can help revive an attack that ranked 11th in the SEC in passing (211.6 yards) and total offense (339.5) last season. Vandagriff’s running ability should take some pressure off Kentucky’s offensive line. Getting Vandagriff comfortable in new offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan’s system will be a priority this spring. — Schlabach


What can Cam Ward do for the offense?

It is as tantalizing a question as there is headed into the season, because the Hurricanes return talent across the board at the skill positions, from running back Mark Fletcher to receivers Jacolby George and Xavier Restrepo. Ward has proven to be prolific in the passing game, with three straight seasons of 3,200 or more passing yards. That is one area where Miami simply had no consistency over the past two seasons with quarterback Tyler Van Dyke. In fact, Miami has not had a 3,000-yard passer since Malik Rosier in 2017 — the last time Miami won 10 games in a season. How quickly Ward gets up to speed will be a spring storyline to watch. — Adelson


What does everything look like under Mike Elko?

Talent was not a problem under Jimbo Fisher. A stubborn lack of offensive evolution plagued the Aggies over the past several years, but so did a lack of discipline or accountability, according to sources inside the program. Elko has plugged holes in the transfer portal, particularly at wide receiver and defensive back. But the biggest question mark will be that offense, and how new coordinator Collin Klein, who ran a highly effective system at Kansas State that often featured the quarterback run, will look with Conner Weigman, who is one of the Aggies’ best QB prospects in years. — Wilson

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McDavid awarded Conn Smythe after ‘uphill climb’

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McDavid awarded Conn Smythe after 'uphill climb'

SUNRISE, Fla. — Connor McDavid won a trophy in Game 7 against the Florida Panthers. Just not the one he wanted to win.

The Edmonton Oilers were defeated by the Florida Panthers, 2-1, to end their miraculous comeback in the Stanley Cup Final, having forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-0 in the series — only the third team in NHL history to accomplish that feat. In leading that comeback, and having a record-breaking postseason, McDavid was announced as the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the 2024 postseason.

McDavid is the sixth player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe from team that lost in the Stanley Cup Final. He’s only the second skater after Reggie Leach of the Philadelphia Flyers, who was named MVP in 1976. The other winners were all goaltenders who lost in the Final: Jean-Sebastien Giguere of Anaheim in 2003, Ron Hextall of Philadelphia in 1987, Glenn Hall of St. Louis in 1968 and Roger Crozier of Detroit in 1966.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced McDavid as the Conn Smythe winner, with the trophy positioned atop a podium on the ice. There it stayed as Panthers fans booed the selection. McDavid had left for the Edmonton dressing room and did not reemerge to accept the award.

After the game, as the Panthers’ ongoing Cup celebration could be heard in the distance, a despondent McDavid briefly acknowledged the achievement.

“Yeah, obviously, I guess it’s an honor. With the names on that trophy. But … yeah,” he said.

McDavid earned the Conn Smythe thanks to one of the most dominant runs by an individual player in NHL playoff history.

His 42 points are the 4th most in a single postseason in NHL history behind only Wayne Gretzky (47 in 1985 and 43 in 1988) and Mario Lemieux (44 in 1991), who both won the Conn Smythe in those seasons. His 11 points in the Stanley Cup Final were 2 points shy of tying the Stanley Cup Final record held by Wayne Gretzky with 13 in 1988. He posted back-to-back four-point games in the Final, the first player in NHL history to do so, in rallying the Oilers.

But the crowning achievement of his postseason run was shattering Wayne Gretzky’s record for assists in a single postseason (31 in 1988) with 34 helpers in 24 games.

“He’s the greatest player to ever play, in my books,” said his teammate and friend Leon Draisaitl after Game 7. “So many things that a lot of people don’t see that he does. His work ethic. He singlehandedly turned our franchise around, pretty much. Just love sharing the ice with him. He’s just a really, really special person.”

Draisaitl asked about McDavid winning the MVP award in a losing effort.

“I don’t think he cares,” Draisaitl said. “I mean, it speaks to how amazing of a hockey player he is. There’s no player in the world that wants to win a Stanley Cup more than him. He does everything right, every single day, just to win it one day. It’s really hard with him being sad and being disappointed at the end.”

McDavid’s MVP performance stretches back to the regular season, where he led the Oilers back from an atrocious first 12 games (2-9-1) to rally for a playoff berth.

“Proud of the way we fought all year. Behind the 8-ball almost immediately. We fought an uphill climb for months and months and months,” McDavid said. “(This) just … sucks.”

McDavid went from 10 points in his first 11 games to 122 points in his next 65 games.

“You think about the year that Connor had: 100 assists, leading our team; the performance he had in this playoffs, especially in this final round, when we’re down three games to zero and then he comes out with eight points in two games,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch, who also coached McDavid with the Erie Otters in junior hockey.

“Yeah, he’s our leader. He’s our best player. Obviously everybody wanted to win it for the team and we’d like to obviously do it (for) him, the captain of our team,” coach said. “I can’t say enough things about what he provides: the leadership and what he does on the ice.”

McDavid had a frustrating end to his postseason, with no points in the last two games of the Stanley Cup Final.

The Oilers captain praised the Panthers for the way they played in Game 7.

“We knew it was going to be a real tight game and it was going to come down to one thing here and there. We’re an inch away from going ahead 2-1 right before they go ahead 2-1,” he said, referencing a bouncing puck that the Panthers cleared from their crease before Sam Reinhart scored the game-winner in the second period. “They did a good of shutting things down. We had our looks. We just didn’t find it.”

This was the farthest McDavid has ever advanced in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, having established a “Cup or bust” mentality for his team before the season.

In nine seasons, McDavid has captured five scoring titles, one goal-scoring title, three Hart Trophy wins as league MVP and the NHLPA’s player of the year four times. Now, he adds the Conn Smythe Trophy to that collection.

But not the Stanley Cup.

“We never stopped believing. We really believed we were going to get one. Lots of looks. It just didn’t go,” McDavid said. “It sucks … it sucks.”

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Panthers (+900) favored to repeat; Oilers in top 3

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Panthers (+900) favored to repeat; Oilers in top 3

It took the Florida Panthers 30 years to win their first Stanley Cup ever. They’ll be betting favorites to do it again next year.

At sportsbooks across the nation, the Panthers are consensus favorites to win the NHL’s top prize for the 2024-25 season, showing +900 odds at ESPN BET and several other major operations.

The Stanley Cup runner-up Edmonton Oilers are also among the top three choices across the marketplace, with 10-1 odds at ESPN BET.

Florida seeks to become the first repeat champion since the Tampa Bay Lightning (2019-20 and 2020-21), who entered that ’20-21 season at +900 — but not as the favorites.

If that price holds to opening night, it will tie the 2006-07 Ottawa Senators and 2023-24 Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes for the longest odds for a preseason favorite since at least 1984, per SportsOddsHistory.com.

That speaks to the overall level of parity on display across the NHL. The Dallas Stars are tied with Florida for the odds lead at +900 at several major books, including ESPN BET, though Florida is the sole leader at FanDuel.

The Hurricanes (10-1) and Avalanche (12-1) are also lurking near the top.

The consensus longest odds to win next year’s Cup belong to the San Jose Sharks, who own the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NHL draft and are widely expected to select Macklin Celebrini. They are 400-1 to win it all.

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Panthers get their ‘perfect outcome,’ win 1st Cup

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Panthers get their 'perfect outcome,' win 1st Cup

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.

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