Florida Panthers Win Second Straight Stanley Cup

SUNRISE, Fla. — Just like he did in last year’s Stanley Cup win, Sam Reinhart left his mark on Tuesday night’s victory against the Edmonton Oilers.

The 29-year-old forward picked off a pass right at the Edmonton blue line and created space with a stick lift reminiscent of Brad Marchand’s nifty move in Game 5. Reinhart was tripped right in front of the crease, but still finished the shot while falling to the ground.

The Panthers had a 1-0 lead.

After Matthew Tkachuk scored late in the first period, Reinhart scored the next three Panthers goals, with two of them coming on an empty net.

It was the first hat-trick in Panthers playoff history.

IT'S A HAT TRICK FOR SAM REINHART 🎩 pic.twitter.com/HYSLZ1Fwsw

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 18, 2025

“He scored a game-winner in Game 7 last year and he banged in four,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “Nobody’s going to say whether there was a goalie in the net and nobody’s going to care. He just scored four goals. That was a pretty good story.”

Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy, with 15 goals and seven assists in 23 postseason games.

Bennett was one of six Florida players with at least 20 points this postseason. Reinhart, Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe each had 23 points each. Bennett and Aleksander Barkov each had 22 points, and Brad Marchand had 20.

“The depth of this team, it’s remarkable,” Bennett said. “The amount of guys that stepped up this year and had incredible years, incredible playoff runs, [the Conn Smythe] truly could’ve gone to anyone.”

Both teams came into this Final with mostly the same roster from last year, save for a few new fourth-line forwards and depth defensemen. Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said that depth was the biggest difference between the Panthers from last season to this season.

“I think they were better,” Draisaitl said. “Just deeper. Their third line scored how many goals? Until tonight, [when] it was their top two lines, their third line did a lot of damage.”

That third line of Eetu Luostarinen (one goal, five assists), Anton Lundell (one goal, five assists) and Marchand (six goals), each had six points in the Final.

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky held a shutout through the majority of the game before Vasily Podkolzin snuck in a loose puck with less than five minutes remaining to make it 5-1. He made 28 saves.

The Panthers spent 255:49 leading during this series, more than any other team in Cup Final history.

They’re the first team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups since the Pittsburgh Penguins did it in 2016 and 2017.

“We’ve got to be a dynasty now,” Tkachuk said. “Three years in a row, finals, two championships. This is a special group.”