Oilers fall short of history as Panthers win Game 7 to capture 1st Stanley Cup title

Connor McDavid barely spoke above a whisper. Leon Draisaitl had tears in his eyes.

The Oilers never stopped pushing — from a deep hole early in the season to a Stanley Cup final deficit that seemed insurmountable

Edmonton, in the end, simply ran out of gas. Florida, meanwhile, has its first title.

Sam Reinhart scored the winner in Game 7 of the NHL’s championship round as the Panthers beat the Oilers 2-1 on a memorable Monday to take the back-and-forth series 4-3 in Sunrise, Fla.

“Proud of the way we fought all year,” said McDavid, who put up gaudy numbers in the playoffs with an eye-popping 42 points. “Behind the 8-ball almost immediately. We fought an uphill climb for months and months and months.

“Just … sucks.”

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Edmonton’s superstar captain dragged his team into the fight after falling behind 3-0 in the final, including consecutive, record-setting four-point performances in Game 4 and Game 5.

“Just the resilience of the group,” McDavid said of what he will remember about these Oilers. “We went through a lot. Came that close.”

Carter Verhaeghe added a goal and assist for the Panthers, who lost in the final in 1996 and again last spring. Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves. Head coach Paul Maurice, in his second season with Florida, won the Cup for the first time after beginning his career in 1995.

“It’s hard to put into words,” Panthers centre Sam Bennett said. “A moment I’ve dreamt about for my entire life.”

WATCH l Reinhart scores go-ahead goal against Oilers in Game 7:

Sam Reinhart’s 2nd-period goal holds up as Florida Panthers win 1st-ever Stanley Cup

Florida defeated Edmonton Monday night 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final giving the Panthers a 4-3 series win.

Mattias Janmark replied for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner stopped 19 shots as the title drought for Canadian-based teams now stands at 31 years dating back to the Montreal Canadiens’ victory in 1993.

“Amazing group of guys, so much character,” Draisaitl said. “We stuck with it all year and battled all the way to the end.”

On the other side, the Panthers avoided sports infamy by finally putting Edmonton away after allowing their 3-0 stranglehold in the series to wither away with the Cup on site a fourth time.

“Unbelievable,” Reinhart said. “No sweeter place to do it than…