‘Dialed in' from October, the Panthers are a win away from repeating as Stanley Cup champions
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And that was before the real hockey started. Now, more than 250 days later, the Panthers are one win away from repeating as champions, and the Stanley Cup will be in the building with their chance to extend its stay in Florida if they defeat the Oilers in Game 6 of the final on home ice Tuesday night.
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'It's business as usual,' top-line winger Sam Reinhart said. 'We're obviously excited about the position we're in. You put all the work to be playing at this time of year, so we're excited.'
They also know what to expect this time around. Florida lost its first opportunity to close out Edmonton after going up 3-0 in the final last year, then let the next two slip away before finally
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Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers hopes to lift the Stanley Cup on home ice Tuesday night as Florida hosts the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Carmen Mandato/Getty
Everything was new then, from handling the butterflies and the logistics of families getting to town to thinking about the order of passing the big silver chalice around on the ice.
'There's a whole bunch of stuff you have to go through the first time and then there's all these superstitions — you don't want to talk about it, you want to talk about it — well, there are things you have to talk about,' coach Paul Maurice said. 'All of that stuff got dealt with last year when we went through it for the first time. Now, just get ready for the hockey game. It's a different set of emotions for us.'
This final has unfolded differently, with the teams
That was utter domination, and, unlike last year, their first chance to hoist the Cup comes in front of home fans in Sunrise.
'We're just excited to be back home, and we're excited to hopefully keep that going after last game,' winger Matthew Tkachuk said. 'We think we've played pretty good hockey over this whole series, in the whole playoffs, but especially the last few, so we know this is the type of game we have to play.'
Some FILTHY stuff from Marchy 🤢
— x - Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers)
Florida is looking to become just the third team to go back to back since the NHL's salary cap era began in 2005, joining the Lightning in 2020 and '21 and the Penguins in '16 and '17. Just 18 have done it in league history.
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The Panthers are favored on BetMGM Sportsbook to take Game 6. After laying an egg and getting pushed to the brink of elimination, the Oilers are hoping to drag the series back to Edmonton for Game 7 on Friday night.
'For whatever reason, our group doesn't like to make it easy on ourselves,' Oilers captain and co-playoff leading scorer Connor McDavid said. 'We've put ourselves in another difficult spot, and it's our job to work our way out of it.'
Only eight of the 44 teams to fall behind 3-2 in the final have gone on to win. Boston was the last to do it in 2011 against Vancouver, extending Canada's Cup drought that goes back to 1993.
The Panthers would love to make this the 31st consecutive season it is won by a team in the US. They have played a lot of games over the past three years and trips to the final, but the chance to lift the trophy is enough to push off that fatigue for at least one more game and two at most.
'You play all year to try to win a Stanley Cup,' forward Evan Rodrigues said. 'It's in our grasp and, yeah, I'm sure we're all going to be ready to go.'
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Advertisement And that was before the real hockey started. Now, more than 250 days later, the Panthers are one win away from repeating as champions, and the Stanley Cup will be in the building with their chance to extend its stay in Florida if they defeat the Oilers in Game 6 of the final on home ice Tuesday night. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'It's business as usual,' top-line winger Sam Reinhart said. 'We're obviously excited about the position we're in. You put all the work to be playing at this time of year, so we're excited.' They also know what to expect this time around. Florida lost its first opportunity to close out Edmonton after going up 3-0 in the final last year, then let the next two slip away before finally Advertisement Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers hopes to lift the Stanley Cup on home ice Tuesday night as Florida hosts the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. Carmen Mandato/Getty Everything was new then, from handling the butterflies and the logistics of families getting to town to thinking about the order of passing the big silver chalice around on the ice. 'There's a whole bunch of stuff you have to go through the first time and then there's all these superstitions — you don't want to talk about it, you want to talk about it — well, there are things you have to talk about,' coach Paul Maurice said. 'All of that stuff got dealt with last year when we went through it for the first time. Now, just get ready for the hockey game. It's a different set of emotions for us.' This final has unfolded differently, with the teams That was utter domination, and, unlike last year, their first chance to hoist the Cup comes in front of home fans in Sunrise. 'We're just excited to be back home, and we're excited to hopefully keep that going after last game,' winger Matthew Tkachuk said. 'We think we've played pretty good hockey over this whole series, in the whole playoffs, but especially the last few, so we know this is the type of game we have to play.' Some FILTHY stuff from Marchy 🤢 — x - Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) Florida is looking to become just the third team to go back to back since the NHL's salary cap era began in 2005, joining the Lightning in 2020 and '21 and the Penguins in '16 and '17. Just 18 have done it in league history. Advertisement The Panthers are favored on BetMGM Sportsbook to take Game 6. After laying an egg and getting pushed to the brink of elimination, the Oilers are hoping to drag the series back to Edmonton for Game 7 on Friday night. 'For whatever reason, our group doesn't like to make it easy on ourselves,' Oilers captain and co-playoff leading scorer Connor McDavid said. 'We've put ourselves in another difficult spot, and it's our job to work our way out of it.' Only eight of the 44 teams to fall behind 3-2 in the final have gone on to win. Boston was the last to do it in 2011 against Vancouver, extending Canada's Cup drought that goes back to 1993. The Panthers would love to make this the 31st consecutive season it is won by a team in the US. They have played a lot of games over the past three years and trips to the final, but the chance to lift the trophy is enough to push off that fatigue for at least one more game and two at most. 'You play all year to try to win a Stanley Cup,' forward Evan Rodrigues said. 'It's in our grasp and, yeah, I'm sure we're all going to be ready to go.'
