Panthers Beat Oilers To Become Back-To-Back Stanley Cup Champions Led By Sam Reinhart’s 4 Goals

Thanks to the historic four-goal performance from Sam Reinhart, the Florida Panthers dominated the Edmonton Oilers and grabbed a 5-1 win in Game 6 on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena in South Florida to become Stanley Cup champions once again. With the Panthers’ Game 6 win, it closed out the series 4-2 and gave the Panthers back-to-back titles and their second championship in franchise history.

The Panthers also beat the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final last season in seven games. They are now the first team to win back-to-back titles since the Tampa Bay Lightning did so in 2020 and 2021. The Oilers’ loss also ensured that Canada’s 32-year dry spell – the country hasn’t had a team win a Stanley Cup since 1993 – continues.

The Panthers entered Tuesday’s game in Sunrise, Florida, coming off a commanding 5-2 Game 5 win in Alberta – which put them on the brink of the championship after just barely slipping in overtime in Game 4 last week.

The Panthers didn’t waste any time on Tuesday, either. Reinhart came up with a turnover and put in a wild off-balance goal not even five minutes into the game to put Florida on the board right now.

Matthew Tkachuk made it 2-0 by the end of the first, after he slipped into the center of the ice and found himself open. His goal, which came with about 45 seconds left in the period, marked the sixth straight game this series in which the Panthers have scored multiple goals in the first.

Then, late in the second period, after things started getting a bit chippy out on the ice, Reinhart got credit for another goal after Aleksander Barkov banked it in off his skate.

Reinhart then added one more goal in the third period for good measure when he threw in a deep goal on an empty net. That gave him the first-ever postseason hat trick in Panthers history, and the first one in a Game 6 of a Stanley Cup Final since 1973.

Reinhart scored his fourth goal just minutes later. He’s just the sixth player in NHL history to have four goals in a single game in the Stanley Cup Final, and the first since 1957. Vasily Podkolzin finally broke the shutout for the Oilers shortly after that goal with a quick one of his own, but it came too late.

Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy even though he didn’t score on Tuesday night. He had 15 goals throughout the postseason, including five in the Stanley Cup Final.