Panthers Beat Oilers, Repeat as Stanley Cup Champions

Sam Reinhard scored four goals, including a pair of empty netters, to lead the Florida Panthers to a 5-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals on June 17th. With that, the Panthers won their second Stanley Cup in a row, both times defeating Edmonton.

Matthew Tkachuk scored the other Florida goal. Carter Verhaeghe had three assists and Alexander Barkov had two more. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 29 shots.

Sam Bennett was kept off the scoresheet in this game, but had a terrific playoff run, scoring 15 goals including five in the finals. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Thirty-seven year old Brad Marchand, a late season pickup from the Boston Bruins, had 10 goals and 10 assists in the post season. Another late season pickup, defenseman Seth Jones, had four goals and five assists.

The Panthers forced the Oilers to play catch up throughout most of the series, a tall order against a good defensive team with excellent goaltending. Bobrovsky was 16-7 with a 2.20 goals against average, a .914 save percentage, and three shutouts in the playoffs. He was 4-2 with a 2.45 goals against average and a .919 save percentage in the finals. Stuart Skinner, who can look unbeatable in one game and highly beatable in the next, was 1-3 with a 3.97 goals against average and a .861 save percentage in the Finals. Edmonton’s second goalie, Calvin Pickard, was 1-1 with a 2.88 goals against average and .878 save percentage in the Finals.