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Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Examining how Panthers, Oilers stack up for Stanley Cup Final rematch
The excitement is building ahead of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final. This year's championship series offers a rare rematch of season's epic seven-game series, which pitted the Florida Panthers against the Edmonton Oilers. Advertisement Florida won the first three games, convincingly, before dropping the next three, even more convincingly, and eventually emerging victorious in a Game 7 the hockey gods would've been proud of. The Panthers won that seventh game on home ice, which is a luxury they won't have this time around should the series go the distance again. That shouldn't be an issue for these Panthers, however. Paul Maurice's crew has been historically good on the road during this postseason, winning eight of the ten games they've played outside of Sunrise by a ridiculous goal differential of plus-27. That's right, in those ten away games, Florida has scored an eye-popping 48 times while allowing just 21 goals against. Advertisement Conversely, they've given up the same amount of goals at home, 18, as they have scored, which makes sense when seeing as though they hold just a 5-4 at Amerant Bank Arena. One thing that many can agree on is that both teams arrive at this year's Final better than they were a season ago. Edmonton is averaging a league best 4.06 goals per game this postseason while the Panthers are putting up 3.88. Defensively, Florida is allowing 2.29 goals per game, lowest of any playoff team, while the Oilers have given up a similarly stingy 2.81. It's to no one's surprise that Edmonton remains one of the best in the business on the power play. Advertisement They enter the Final operating at a 30.0% success rate while on the man advantage, which is actually a tick higher than last postseason. Florida is also executing at a higher rate during this year's playoffs than they did last year, rising from 18.5% to 23.2% this postseason. One of the big differences from last June to now is on the penalty kill. While the Panthers have remained consistently solid on the PK – last playoffs they killed 88.0% of penalties and this year they're killing 87.9% - it's the Oilers who have seen a significant drop-off. Last year they were lights out, allowing only four power play goals during the entire postseason while killing 94.3% of the power plays they faced. Advertisement We'll see if that element comes into play when the series kicks off on Wednesday night. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. ET from Rogers Place in Edmonton. LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov joins rare company, winning Selke Award and King Clancy Trophy in same season Oilers' Connor McDavid Says This About Panthers Before Final Matthew Tkachuk Makes Big Statement About Panthers & Oilers Here we go again: South Florida columnist calls out Connor McDavid for second straight year Florida Panthers organization takes part in virtual 5K in support of Gaudreau family Photo caption: Jun 21, 2024; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) controls the puck against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period in game six of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. (Sergei Belski-Imagn Images)
Miami Herald
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
The latest on Panthers' Sam Reinhart ahead of Eastern Conference final Game 3
Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice on Saturday said star winger Sam Reinhart is out for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final against the Carolina Hurricanes after leaving Game 2 in the first period with a lower-body injury. Maurice is listing Reinhart as day-to-day. Jesper Boqvist will draw into the lineup in Reinhart's place. Reinhart sustained the injury with about five minutes left in the first period after sustaining a low hit from Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho while entering the offensive zone on the power play. Reinhart went crashing to the ice but managed to get to the bench under his own power. 'That guy, you can't really replace him,' captain Aleksander Barkov said. 'He does everything.' Even that might be an understatement. Reinhart, one of three finalists for the Selke Award given annually to the NHL's best defensive forward, has four goals and 11 points this postseason. He led the team in the regular season with 39 goals and 81 points. Last season, he was among the league's top scorers with 57 goals and 94 points. He's on the Panthers' top power play and one of their key forwards on the penalty kill. And Florida has never been without him in a game that matters. Reinhart has only missed three games over the past three seasons — and all of those came at the end of the regular season this year with Maurice deciding to rest key players after they had clinched their spot in the postseason. 'He's a player that touches all parts of our game,' Maurice said. 'He's a critical player to our power play. Barkov and Reinhart are leading the penalty kill. He draws the heavy fire, pulls the best set of [defensemen] for the other team. It's a significant player out of our lineup. ... You have to be able to survive.' But the Panthers are no strangers to key players being in and out of the lineup. They were without Aaron Ekblad for four games this postseason due to a pair of suspensions. They played without Sam Bennett for an extended stretch last playoffs as well. 'We've had guys step up all year, and when guys go down, it's just someone else's opportunity to fill a bigger role,' Panthers forward Sam Bennett said. 'And again, everyone stepped up tonight and helped fill that massive hole.' As for Boqvist, he has played in nine games for the Panthers this postseason, producing one goal and one assist while also logging 30 hits and being able to contribute on the penalty kill. He already played two games on Florida's top line this postseason when forward Evan Rodrigues missed Games 5 and 6 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round with injury. 'He can jump in,' Maurice said. 'There's no lag in his game. He doesn't have to get used to a series. There's lot of maturity to what he does. He played with Barkov last time and he'll switch over and play the other side of Barky tonight.' The Panthers lead the best-of-7 series 2-0 after netting wins of 5-2 in Game 1 and 5-0 in Game 2, putting them two wins away from their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final.
Miami Herald
19-04-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Winning the Stanley Cup a moment Aleksander Barkov will ‘never forget.' He wants to do it again
The memory is still fresh in Aleksander Barkov's mind. The Florida Panthers had just won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, beating the Edmonton Oilers on home ice in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. He's the first Finnish captain to lead his team to the championship. As the formal celebration began at Amerant Bank Arena, Barkov skated over to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, accepts the Cup as pyrotechnics go off in the background and does a lap around the rink he has called home for 11 years. 'That will never leave my mind, that moment and everything leading up to that moment,' Barkov said. 'I will never forget anything of that.' It's a reminder of where the Panthers have finally gotten to. After so many lean years at the start of his NHL career, all the missed playoff appearances and struggles to be competitive, Florida was now one of the standard bearers in the league. The Panthers are now an annual contender. Barkov, who owns just about every career record in franchise history there is to attain, doesn't want that run to end. He wants more memories like the one last June. Their chance to experience that feeling of being champions all over again begins Tuesday when the Panthers play the Tampa Bay Lightning to begin their best-of-7 opening-round matching of the Stanley Cup playoffs (8:30 p.m., ESPN/Scripps Sports). To get to that point, to be in a place where they avoid complacency, the Panthers, with their captain leading the way, attacked this season the way they did the first two under coach Paul Maurice — like they have something to prove, like their ultimate goal still needs to be attained. 'We've done a really good job this year by kind of turning the page and just thinking about the day that you're in right now,' Barkov said Thursday. 'I'm thinking about this day and then thinking about tomorrow, thinking about practice and that kind of stuff, preparing for Game 1. We've done good job with that. Just keep doing that.' Barkov is a standard bearer of sort for this franchise. He owns the franchise records for games played (804), goals (286), assists (496), points (782) and game-winning goals (52) among a slew of other marks. He's a two-time Selke Award winner, given annually to the NHL's best two-way forward. He's in his seventh season as the team's captain. Yet the 29-year-old attacks every moment of his career as if he still has something to prove. There's always an aspect of his game where he can get better, always something to learn. 'He's taken for granted, absolutely, with all the things that he does,' Maurice said earlier this season. 'He's such a great driver of the culture here in that he skates on the day before the game because he feels he needs to to be good. We push the idea of being good pros here. You don't have to skate in the morning skate if that's what you think you need to be great, but be responsible for yourself and for what you do. When your captain is a guy who will always lead to being on the ice,more than less that does set a tone for your group.' The Panthers hope that tone continues to be seen as their playoff run — and hope to repeat as champions — begins. 'The best time to be a hockey player,' Barkov said, 'is starting now. We're really happy about this opportunity again to be in the playoffs and battle for something big again.'
