Florida finds way to play Panthers hockey in Game 7 to claim Stanley Cup
After losing three straight games to the Edmonton Oilers, Florida rebounded in a big way to win the Stanley Cup
That was quite an ending.
The Florida Panthers found a way to right the ship just in the nick of time to claim the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Florida entered Game 7 on Monday reeling after dropping three straight games to the Edmonton Oilers.
It was a pretty drastic turnaround considering the Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 series lead, a seemingly unbeatable position to be in when it comes to a best-of-7 playoff series.
The Oilers certainly made things interesting, winning Games 4 through 6 by a combined score of 18-5.
They had all the momentum heading into Game 7, but credit must go to Florida for finding a way to get back to their game and defeating the Oilers when it mattered most.
Carter Verhaeghe played one of the best games of his life.
He scored the first goal for Florida and, like his team, bounced back in a massive way after a rough few games against Edmonton.
Afterwards, he was quick to point to his teammates when discussing what went right in the game, the series and the season.
“I can’t say enough about the guys,” Verhaeghe said. “We’re such a good team, everyone loves each other. It’s such a team effort, everybody pulls the rope. We’ve been grinding for two yearsd to get to this moment, and finally it comes in a Game 7.”
Then there was Sergei Bobrovsky.
He allowed a breakaway goal to Mattias Janmark during the first period and nothing else, stopping 23 Oilers shots including six of their seven high danger looks they sent Bob’s way.
“We came out and fought for each other, competed for each other, and we did it,” said Bobrovsky.
At the end of the day, nearly blowing a 3-0 series lead isn’t going to resonate with many.
It will be a fun part of the story, the near collapse only to overcome all the adversity in the world on the games grandest stage and come out on top.
It’s a hell of a tale to tell.
And now, it’ll be the Florida Panthers championship story.
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