In 2024, game-winner. In 2025, 4 goals. Reinhart thrives again in Cup clincher
Sam Reinhart was the Florida Panthers' hero when they won their first Stanley Cup last year, scoring the game-winning goal in Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers.
So it was only natural that Reinhart would not only be the key player again this year but would find a way to up his performance to a level the Panthers have never seen in the playoffs.
Reinhart scored four goals in Florida's 5-1 win over the Oilers in Game 6 of the Cup Final on Tuesday to secure their repeat championship. It was the first time a Panthers player had ever recorded a hat trick in a postseason game, let alone put together a four-goal effort.
In fact, only three players in NHL history have had a four-goal game in a Cup Final: Maurice Richard in 1957 for the Montreal Canadiens, Ted Lindsay in 1955 for the Detroit Red Wings and Newsy Lalonde in 1919 for Montreal.
Reinhart opened scoring 4:36 into regulation with a beaut of an individual effort. He stole the puck from Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard in the neutral zone, charged forward, beat Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm and let off a wrist shot as he was falling in the slot that beat Stuart Skinner.
Reinhart then pushed Florida's lead to 3-0 with 2:29 left in the second period when he tipped in an Aleksander Barkov shot after an excellent shift in the offensive zone from Florida's top line overall.
Reinhart then sealed his hat trick and four-goal effort — and the Panthers sealed the game — with a pair of empty-net goals. Reinhart's hat trick is the 36th in a Stanley Cup Final in NHL history but only the second this century. Mark Stone recorded a hat trick in the Vegas Golden Knights' Cup-clinching Game 5 win over the Panthers in 2023.
And he did all this while playing through a Grade 2 MCL strain he sustained after taking a low hit by Sebastian Aho in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final against the Carolina Hurricanes that forced him to miss two games in that series.
'It took him a few games to get back to health,' Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. 'But if you're Sam Reinhart, who gets your story? Scored the game-winner in Game 7 [last year] and then you score four goals here. That's pretty good.'
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