The Florida Panthers locked up their second straight Stanley Cup championship on Tuesday night with an impressive 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Bank Arena.
This postseason ended with the Florida Panthers being the best team in the National Hockey League.
Last spring, the debate raged on about the Panthers being an inferior team to the Oilers. The seven-game series did little to settle the score definitively. Therefore, a rematch was necessary to determine which team was the better of the two.
The final verdict returned that the Panthers are the winner, head and shoulders above the Oilers.
This year’s Stanley Cup Final rematch was like two heavyweight boxers going toe-to-toe for a second time. Last season’s seven-game Final was akin to a boxer winning by a split decision. A second fight would be necessary to determine if the judges got the cards right.
After the final buzzer sounded, the Panthers won it in a fashion similar to a unanimous decision. If this series had been a boxing match, the referee would have stopped the fight at the end of Game Three.
That’s why it’s safe to say the Panthers won by a TKO. If the NHL had a mercy rule, it would have been activated following the debacle the Oilers unleashed on themselves during the final period of Game Three.
To Edmonton's credit, they came back with a solid performance in Game 4, storming back from a 3-0 deficit to win in overtime. However, like Game Six of the second round against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Panthers weren’t going to be caught off guard two games in a row.
The Panthers put the clamps down on Games Five and Six, settling the score once and for all.
Could Florida three-peat in 2025-26?
It might be too early to make a call on a three-peat for the Florida Panthers. After all, the champagne hasn’t even dried. But the wheels of the hockey business stop for no one.
Said wheels are churning even as the Panthers celebrate another Stanley Cup championship. That churning leads to the question of whether the Panthers have it in them to make it three in a row.
As it is said in economics, “all things remaining equal." The Panthers should have a solid chance to three-peat.
Most of the band will be back next season.
Captain Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Seth Jones, and Sergei Bobrovsky will be back.
Revelations, Eetu Loustarinen, and Anton Lundell will also return, along with several other key contributors.
Swiss Army knife Evan Rodrigues will have a chance to reprise his exploits. Plus, Panthers fans hope Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad will be back.
Even if Brad Marchand hits the road and leave, either by signing somewhere else or by retiring, the Panthers will be the favorite to win the 2026 Stanley Cup.
The are several worthy contenders for next year’s Stanley Cup. However, none of them can boast the track record and depth that the Florida Panthers have.
Barring catastrophic injuries, the Panthers will be virtually impossible to stop next season.