Reinhart stars as Panthers crush Oilers to win second consecutive NHL Stanley Cup

Sam Reinhart starred with four goals as the Florida Panthers thrashed the Edmonton Oilers 5-1, capturing their second consecutive Stanley Cup title on Tuesday.

Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves, while Matthew Tkachuk added a goal as the Panthers secured a 4-2 victory in Game 6 of the best-of-seven series.



After winning their first Stanley Cup last year, the Panthers became the first NHL team since Tampa Bay in 2020-21 to claim back-to-back titles.

The Panther defeated the Oilers in last year’s final after nearly squandering a 3-0 series lead, but this time left no doubt, dominating the final two games to clinch the series.


Just 4:36 into the game, Reinhart intercepted a pass from Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard at the blue line, slipped past Mattias Ekholm, and beat goaltender Stuart Skinner one-on-one to give Florida a 1-0 lead. It marked the 29-year-old Canadian's league-leading 15th goal of the playoffs, coming a day after being named to Canada’s 2026 Winter Olympic team.

Tkachuk doubled the lead with 47 seconds left in the first period, taking a feed from Eetu Luostarinen and firing past Skinner.

Reinhart struck again with 2:29 left in the second, deflecting an Aleksander Barkov shot after a Carter Verhaeghe rebound to make it 3-0.


The Oilers pulled Skinner for an extra attacker in the third, but Reinhart capitalized, scoring two empty-net goals within a minute to complete a four-goal night. Edmonton’s Vasily Podkolzin scored with 4:42 remaining to spoil Sergei Bobrovsky’s shutout bid.

It also marked the first time since Montreal beat Boston in 1977 and 1978 that a team defeated the same opponent in the final two years in a row.

Reinhart became just the fourth player to score seven goals in a Stanley Cup Final, joining legends Jean Beliveau (1956), Mike Bossy (1982), and Wayne Gretzky (1985).