The Florida Panthers are the 2024 Stanley Cup champions. In game seven on Monday night at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, two Canadians had instrumental games for the Panthers as they defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 to win the best out of seven series four games to three.
Panthers centre Carter Verhaeghe of Toronto, Ontario led Florida in scoring with two points as he had one goal and one assist. Meanwhile, Panthers centre Sam Reinhart of West Vancouver, British Columbia scored the game winning goal.
Verhaeghe opened the scoring with an even strength tip in goal from Evan Rodrigues of Toronto and Anton Lundell at 4:27 of the first period. Reinhart’s goal came from Verhaeghe and Dmitry Kulikov with four minutes and 49 seconds left in the second period to put Florida up 2-1.
This was Verhaeghe’s second Stanley Cup. He previously won with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020. In the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Verhaeghe had 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points in 24 games. He was a -5 with 20 penalty minutes, four power-play goals, three game-winning goals, 79 shots on goal, 15 faceoff wins, 14 blocked shots, 27 hits, 11 takeaways and 16 giveaways.
Meanwhile, Reinhart had 10 goals and six assists for 16 points in 24 playoff games. He was a -2 with 12 penalty minutes, four power-play goals, two game-winning goals. 81 faceoff wins, 34 blocked shots, 54 hits, 13 takeaways, and 15 giveaways. Reinhart’s other game-winner came in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals. Reinhart scored from defenseman Brandon Montour of Brantford, Ontario and Aleksander Barkov at 1:12 of overtime in the extra period. The Panthers beat the New York Rangers 3-2 which tied the series at two games apiece.
