Reinhart scores 4, Panthers top Oilers in Game 6 to repeat as Stanley Cup champions

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers are the top cats in the NHL again.

Sam Reinhart scored four goals, Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves, and the Panthers repeated as Stanley Cup champions by defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.

“It’s amazing,” Bobrovsky said. “Obviously, it’s not easy to do and not many people can do that, but this group of guys is unbelievable. It’s a privilege to be their goalie.”

Reinhart’s four goals tied the record for most in a Stanley Cup Final game, and he became the second player in NHL history with four goals in a Stanley Cup-clinching win. He also had the first four-goal game and hat trick in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Panthers history.

Reinhart scored the winning goal when Florida defeated Edmonton 2-1 in Game 7 of the Cup Final last season to capture its first championship.

“He scored a game-winner in Game 7 last year and he banged in four,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Nobody’s going to say whether there was a goalie in the net and nobody’s going to care. He just scored four goals. That was a pretty good story.”

Reinhart credited the Panthers' depth, though.

“That’s the beauty of it,” he said. “Everyone steps up at different times. That’s what makes it so special.”

Carter Verhaeghe had three assists, Aleksander Barkov had two assists, and Matthew Tkachuk also scored for Florida, which became the NHL’s first repeat champion since the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021 and the first team to defeat the same opponent in the Cup Final in consecutive seasons since the Montreal Canadiens against the Boston Bruins in 1977 and 1978. Florida also reached the Cup Final in 2023, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.

“You look to all the bad days, long trips, all the stuff, this just makes it all worth it,” said Tkachuk, whose first period goal was the game-winner. “Lifting that Cup, it’s just insane. I don’t know what to tell you guys. It’s just the most special thing.”

Florida outlasted Edmonton in seven games in the Cup Final last season after letting a 3-0 series lead slip away. The Panthers avoided another Game 7 with a strong defensive effort against Connor McDavid and the Oilers’ high-powered offense. Vasily Podkolzin scored Edmonton’s lone goal, and Stuart Skinner made 20 saves.

“We lost to a really good team,” said McDavid, the Oilers captain. “Nobody quit, nobody threw the towel in, but they’re a heck of a team. They’re Stanley Cup champions back to back for a reason.”

Skinner was back in net for the Oilers after backing up Calvin Pickard in Game 5 on Saturday, a 5-2 loss. He was pulled in the previous two games. In Game 3, a 6-1 loss, Skinner was removed in the third period after giving up five goals on 23 shots. He was then replaced by Pickard to start the second period of Game 4, a 5-4 overtime win, after allowing three goals on 17 shots.

Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs. The forward led the NHL with 15 goals and had seven assists in 23 postseason games.

Bennett was one of six Florida players with at least 20 points this postseason. Reinhart (11 goals, 12 assists), Tkachuk (eight goals, 15 assists) and Verhaeghe (seven goals, 16 assists) led the way with 23 points each. Bennett and Barkov (six goals, 16 assists) each had 22 points, and Brad Marchand had 20 (10 goals, 10 assists).

“The depth of this team, it’s remarkable,” Bennett said. “The amount of guys that stepped up this year and had incredible years, incredible playoff runs, [the Conn Smythe] truly could’ve went to anyone.”

Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said that depth was the biggest difference between the Panthers last season and this season, noting the contributions they got from their third line of Eetu Luostarinen (one goal, five assists), Anton Lundell (one goal, five assists) and Marchand (six goals), who each had six points in the Cup Final.

"I think they were better,” Draisaitl said. “Just deeper. Their third line scored how many goals? Until tonight, [when] it was their top two lines, their third line did a lot of damage."

McDavid finished the Cup Final with seven points (one goal, six assists) but had only two points (one goal, one assist) in the last four games, including one at even-strength, on a goal in Game 5. Like in Game 7 last season, he was held without a point on Tuesday.

Draisaitl led Edmonton with eight points (four goals, four assists) in the Cup Final but also was held without a point in Game 6.

The Panthers did not trail in the final two games of the series after blowing a 3-0 lead in Game 4.

“I thought we played pretty well the majority of the games and a couple of overtime games that went either way, but it just shows the character,” Bennett said. “Guys were willing to do whatever it takes to shut them down and some guys played some big minutes shutting down two of the best players in the world. That’s not an easy job by any means. So it really took everyone and everyone bought in.”

Reinhart gave Florida a 1-0 lead by scoring with a great individual effort 4:36 into the first period. After intercepting defenseman Evan Bouchard’s pass outside the Edmonton blue line, Reinhart chipped the puck past defenseman Mattias Ekholm in the left circle and cut to the slot before unleashing a shot while falling that went in past Skinner’s glove.

It was Reinhart’s fourth consecutive game with a goal and the fifth game in a row in which the Panthers scored first.

“I was just trying to take it to the net,” Reinhart said. “Got the puck in the right spot and as I was going down, I was able to elevate it.”

Tkachuk made it 2-0 with 47 seconds remaining in the first. The Panthers counterattacked after a Bouchard turnover at the offensive blue line, and Luostarinen pulled up at the top of the right circle before feeding the trailing Tkachuk, who let go a wrist shot from the high slot that went through Lundell’s screen in front and beat Skinner to the glove side.

Florida headed to the locker room for the first intermission leading 2-0 or 3-0 for the fourth consecutive game.

Bobrosky made 10 saves in the first period and 10 more in the second. His best in the first was a right-pad stop on Bouchard’s slap shot from the high slot at 10:12. In the second, he hugged the left post to stop a quick shot from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the left side at 9:26 to keep Florida ahead 2-0.

The Panthers increased their lead to 3-0 on Reinhart’s second of the game at 17:31 of the second. After Skinner left a rebound in the left circle on Verhaeghe’s initial shot, Barkov’s centering pass deflected in off Reinhart’s skate.

Reinhart made it 4-0 with an empty-net goal at 13:26 of the third period and scored another into an empty net for a 5-0 lead at 14:55.

Podkolzin broke up Bobrovsky’s shutout, making it 5-1 at 15:18. By then, however, the Panthers fans were already celebrating in anticipation of seeing their team win the Cup on home ice for the second straight season.

“It’s a special feeling,” said Barkov, the Panthers captain, “and we’re just really happy to do it.”

NOTES: Prior to Reinhart, the only other player with four goals in a Cup-clinching game was Babe Dye, who did it with the Toronto St. Patricks in Game 5 of the 1922 Final against the Vancouver Millionaires. The other players to score four in a Cup Final game are: Newsy Lalonde (Montreal Canadiens, Game 2 in 1919 against the Seattle Metropolitans); Frank Foyston (Metropolitans, Game 3 in 1919); Ted Lindsay (Detroit Red Wings, Game 2 in 1955 against the Canadiens); and Maurice Richard (Canadiens, Game 1 in 1957 against the Bruins).