Back-to-back championships: The numbers behind the Panthers' run to the Stanley Cup
The Florida Panthers are back-to-back Stanley Cup champions after defeating the Edmonton Oilers in their rematch final. They needed just six games this time after a seven-game thriller a year ago.
Here are the numbers to know about the repeat:
3 — Teams that have won consecutive titles since the NHL salary cap era began in 2005. The Panthers join the Tampa Bay Lightning (2020-21) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016-17).
19 — Teams in league history that have won the Cup two or more times in a row.
5 — Championships by teams based in the U.S. Sun Belt over the past six years. Four of those belong to the state of Florida, and the Lightning like the Panthers made three consecutive trips to the final.
32 — Years since a Canadian team last won the Cup (1993 Montreal Canadiens). Edmonton became the eighth Canadian team to lose in the final since.
13 — First-period goals the Panthers scored to the Oilers' four, a plus-9 differential that is tied for the widest margin in a final (Pittsburgh outscored the Minnesota North Stars by the same margin in 1991).
4 — Goaltenders since 1981-82 to win the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie during the regular season and also earn two Stanley Cup rings, with Sergei Bobrovsky joining Hall of Famers Patrick Roy, Dominik Hasek and Martin Brodeur.
15 — Goals scored by Sam Bennett in the playoffs, leading all players. Bennett is a pending unrestricted free agent.
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14 — Years between Stanley Cup titles for Brad Marchand, who last won it with the Boston Bruins in 2011. Only Chris Chelios (16 years, 1986-2002) and Mark Recchi (15 years, 1991-2006) had longer gaps.
5 — Losses in the final over the past six years for Corey Perry, who would have had the longest gap between titles had Edmonton won (18 years, Anaheim in 2007).
2 — Teams in NHL history to have three players with five or more goals in the final, with Bennett, Marchand and Sam Reinhart putting the Panthers in the same category as the 1955 Red Wings (Alex Delvecchio, Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay).
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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