The Florida Panthers are back in the Stanley Cup Finals for the second consecutive season.
The Panthers beat the New York Rangers 2-1 and beat New York four games to two in the Eastern Conference Finals to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals.
In a closely played first period, the Panthers and the Rangers had their chances, as Florida had 10 shots on goal compared to eight for the New York Rangers.
Then, as we have seen so many times in this series, the Panthers got going late in the first period, and Sam Bennett got one by Igor Shesterkin with just 50 seconds to play in the period to put the Panthers up 1-0.
This was the third consecutive game that Bennett has scored a goal.
Panthers Get Stronger in the Second And Third Periods
With the Rangers season on the line, the Panthers were the team that played with more of a sense of urgency and dominated play in the third period.
Anton Lundell put a puck in front of Igor Shesterkin, and Vladimir Tarasenko put it in to put the Panthers up 2-0 at the 9:08 mark of the third period.
That line of Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Vladimir Tarasenko was the best line in this game for the Panthers.
The Rangers pulled Shersterkin with just under three minutes to go in the game and kept the pressure on in the Panthers offensive zone.
The Panthers failed to clear the puck, and Artemi Panarin put a puck up high that whizzed past Sergei Bobrovsky’s ear lobe to cut the lead in half to 2-1 with 1:40 to play in the game.
The Panthers were able to snuff out the Ranger threat in the final 100 seconds and move on to the Stanley Cup Final.
Why have the Panthers gotten stronger and dominated play in the second and third periods? Dimitry Kilikov gave us a clue. “I think it’s just conditioning and the kind of shape we’re in. We build as the game goes on and we also wear teams down with our pressure and with our style of play. I think that comes into play in the second and third periods.”
After a disappointing cup final in 2023, Matthew Tkachuk talked about the team mindset and focus to return to the final. “The right pieces were added, some great pieces added, and just one mindset of doing whatever it took to get back to it. I think the guys here last year did an unbelievable job coming back for the start of camp with this on their mind.”
Aaron Ekblad talked about the Panther’s style of play that helped them get back to the final.
In a post-game interview with Emily Kaplan, Aaron Ekblad said that the style the Panthers play is tough to play, but they like to think it is harder to play against.
The Rangers would agree with that sentiment. After having one of the top power plays all season, New York was just 1/15 on the PP in this series.
Ekbald added that it is a dream come true to return to the Stanley Cup Finals and says he feels that this team is healthier than the team that lost to Vegas in five games last season.
The Panthers Were The Better Team In This Series
The Panthers were the bigger and stronger team in this series and were the better team against the Rangers. New York had no answer for the Panthers’ relentless forecheck, and you could see the confidence of the Panthers growing as the game went along.
Once again, Sergei Bobrovsky stood tall in goal, allowing just one Ranger goal. Bobrovsky has allowed two goals in 10 of his last 11 games with a 2.21 GAA in the playoffs.
“We are not done yet,” Tkachuk said. “We’re very happy with the way this playoffs has gone for us, winning the first three, but it’s a different feeling this year, for sure. I’m very proud of the effort from everybody.”
This will be the Panthers’ third trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in their franchise history.
The Panthers made the finals in 1996, losing to the Colorado Avalanche, and in 2023, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Panthers will play Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers for the Stanley Cup. The Cup final will begin on June 8th.
Since Edmonton advanced, the Panthers will host game one.