Last year was about redemption, this year was about title defense, and now it’ll be another year for the Florida Panthers to Reign Red. Reign Red was the slogan and theme that could be found in the Cats’ playoff hype video and graphics throughout their second Cup Run. The final game of the season featured an all-time great performance from Sam Reinhart, a full team effort, and a celebration solidifying their legacy as one of the great teams to accomplish a rare feat: Back-to-Back Stanley Cup Champions.
Samson Reinhart’s Greatness:
If you thought scoring the Cup-winning goal last season would be Reinhart’s best performance in a Cup Final game, then surprisingly, you’d be wrong. He broke the ice in the first period with an incredible goal. After picking up a turnover at the Edmonton blue line, he pulled the same windmill move that Marchand made just one game prior to get around Ekholm. As he drove to the front of the net, he was eventually tripped, but as he was falling, he ripped the puck over Skinner’s glove for the 1-0 lead. In the second period, he tipped in a pass from Barkov for his second goal and a 3-0 lead. Sam completed the hat trick in the third period with an empty net goal after the Oilers had pulled Skinner with seven minutes to go. But Reinhart wasn’t done there as he scored his fourth goal of the night on another empty-netter to make the final 5-1 score. It was the first Florida playoff hat trick in franchise history. He joins Babe Dye as the second player in NHL history to score four goals in a Cup-clinching win.
Team Effort:
The Florida Panthers’ style of game is built around every line playing the same way & and they don’t ask the fourth line players to do things they wouldn’t ask the first line players to do. The Cats’ defensive structure gave Edmonton no room to do anything as Florida slowly imposed their will on the series as things went along. The shining standout this postseason was the Panthers’ third line of Luostarinen-Lundell-Marchand. It was a line no one had any answers for. Lundell had the highest +/- of the playoffs (+19), Luostarinen had 19 5v5 points, which was only behind McDavid & Draisaitl, and Marchand had six goals in the Cup Final. Just a monstrous performance from that line, and there were flashes of greatness last year when Luostarinen & Lundell played with Tarasenko, but Marchand truly brought the young Finns to a new level. Matthew Tkachuk was the only other goal scorer for the Cats as he scored at the end of the first period off a pass from Luostarinen, where he took a shot from the point to score and made it 2-0 after the opening twenty minutes. Florida’s defense neutralized the Oilers’ top players, with Podkolzin scoring the only Edmonton goal late in the 3rd period, well after the game was far out of hand. The Cats held the Oilers to the outside or allowed long shots from the blue line. There were only three SOG near the net front for Edmonton. Matthew Tkachuk put it perfectly: “Our team, we do it collectively…we’re a team and not a bunch of individuals.”
Legacy Loading:
Three straight Cup Finals & two Stanley Cups for this core of Florida Panthers players. Florida’s core is quickly solidifying its legacy in hockey history as one of the most dominant teams, potentially of all time, depending on how long they can keep winning. Discussions about them being a legacy have already started, especially after Matthew Tkachuk called the team a dynasty during an interview. While I think they can get there over the next couple of years if they win even one more Stanley Cup, I think it may be a bit premature to be throwing around the word dynasty at the moment. But that doesn’t change how overwhelming this iteration of the Cats was during the playoffs. Florida scored the 8th most goals in a postseason in NHL history, Sam Bennett set the NHL record for most road goals in a single playoffs at 13, Marchand became the first player to score a short-handed goal and an OT winner in the same game, Florida tied the record for most road playoff wins at 10, and they had the 4th best goal differential of all time at +39. Bennett took home the Conn Smythe for his playoff-leading 15-goal performance as he was a menace during every series, especially when not on home ice.
Players and coaches, new and old alike, spoke about how special this team is, the bond in the locker room, and the team culture. We saw that on the ice as Sasha Barkov & co. decided that the first time Cup winners on the team would be the guys who got to take a lap with it first before handing it off to those who won last year. HC Paul Maurice spent plenty of time talking about how this year’s Florida Panthers team was better than last year’s. That’s a hefty compliment given that the 2024 Cats won the Stanley Cup. The Panthers had 12 players with 10+ points and six players with 20+ points; their depth was simply unmatched. Florida won the Cup last year on the back of their stout defensive game, but this year, they added deadly offense to the mix, which resulted in them having 13 games where they scored four goals or more and won out of the 16 wins they needed to earn the Cup. The leadership in the room has enough experience now that they can bring in new players, be it in the off-season or at the trade deadline, & make them feel comfortable in the big moments. Seth Jones spoke about how the veteran players helped him manage his emotions during the Cup Final and especially Game 6 when the Cup was in the building. There’s going to be plenty of jerseys retired out of this group of Florida Panthers when all is said and done, and at least a handful of Hall of Famers with the potential for more depending on how long they stay successful. Whether they’re able to keep Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett, and Brad Marchand or any combination of two will be a question answered in the coming days, but for right now, they’re still a team, and they still get to celebrate being x2 Stanley Cup Champions.
ITR 43: It's Winning Time – Inside The Rink
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