Panthers Win Stanley Cup... Again

Zak Drapeau
1 day ago
2 min read

by Zak Drapeau 6/19/2025 FansOnlySportz

The Florida Panthers have been crowned the best team in the NHL for the second straight year. Beating the Edmonton Oilers for a second-straight year, the Panthers would need one less game and take the cup in 6.

The Stanley Cup Finals would start off with a bang when the Oilers scored a game-tying goal with :30 left in regulation and then a game winner with :30 left in overtime. Besides a "lucky" win in Game 1 and another 1-goal win in Game 4, the Panthers would really dominate this series. In their 4 wins, they would outscore Edmonton by 21-8 or av average of 5.25-to-2.

The Conn Smythe Trophy, (Playoffs MVP) would go to Sam Bennett of the Panthers who scored a league-high 15 goals with 5 of them coming in the Finals. Bennett's goal-scoring wasn't his only contribution with a defensive output from the Center position that was eerily similar to Patrice Bergeron's time in Boston.

Stars of the Finals

My First Star of the Stanley Cup Finals has to go to Panthers Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. His performance in these Finals was lockdown especially in Games 3, 5 and 6 where he would only allow 1 goal a piece. Bobrovsky's .919 SV% and 2.83 GAA are tremendous considering the offense he faced. As to was the total defense of the Panthers who helped their Goalie throughout this series. Defenders like Eklbad, Forsling and Jones were vital in stopping McDavid, Draisaitl and company.

The Second Star of the Stanley Cup Finals goes to Sam Bennett. The Conn Smythe winner was the leader of the second line for the Panthers that would score the most goals of any line in the series. Once again his effort on defense is what really separated him as well. Once thought of as the 5th or even 6th best skater on his team, his performance goes to show you just how good this team really is.

Brad Marchand gets my Third Star of the Stanley Cup Finals. This is probably New England-bias but his ability to score goals on a team he'd only been a part of for two months and lead his team in that category until Sam Reinhart's 4-goal explosion in Game 6 will forever live in folklore. He now has several records for oldest player to ____ in the Stanley Cup Finals. At 37-years old, if Marchand does retire this offseason he will have nothing left to prove in NHL's minds, Florida fans minds and especially Boston's.