29-Year-Old Center Leads Panthers to Stanley Cup Win
The Florida Panthers just defeated the Edmonton Oilers in Game Six of the playoffs to win their second Stanley Cup in a row. The Panthers won 5-1, with the Oilers just barely making it on the board. Florida completely dominated the game, and much of it was thanks to one player in particular: Sam Reinhart. Let’s take a look at Reinhart’s crazy game that led the Panthers to their second Stanley Cup win.
Just under five minutes into the first period of the game, Reinhart found the net, scoring an unassisted goal to put the Panthers on the board. With the early action, the Panthers were already off to the right foot for the game. During the second period, Reinhart scored the only goal of the period. With only around two and a half minutes left to play, Reinhart took a chance on a deflected shot, sneaking the puck past Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner, and putting the Panthers at a 3-0 lead to end the period. Things got particularly crazy for Reinhart when the Oilers pulled their goalie in the final period. With an assist from Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe, Reinhart fired a snap shot, landing right in the back of the Oilers’ empty net. Finally, to solidify the game for the Panthers, Reinhart took one last shot at the empty net, firing the puck down the ice and past the goal line to put the Panthers up 5-0.
With six goals scored during the game, Sam Reinhart was responsible for two-thirds of them, putting up four points. Reinhart’s hat trick— and then some— brought the Panthers to a wide lead, making it nearly impossible for the Oilers to catch up. Though the team is full of amazing players who all put in a lot of work to help the Panthers secure their consecutive championship, for example, alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk scored the Panthers' other goal. However, Reinhart’s game was obviously off the charts tonight. It’s safe to say that if Reinhart had not been on the ice for the Panthers tonight, we could have had a very different Game Six outcome, and the finals could be moving back to Edmonton for Game Seven.
