The 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs were quite a ride for the Florida Panthers.
A year removed from Florida making a run all the way Stanley Cup Final, only to come up three wins short of their ultimate goal, the Panthers found themselves right back in the championship series this summer.
Just like last season, reaching the Final was one hell of a ride.
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First the Panthers exorcised some demons and knocked out their cross-state rivals from Tampa Bay in five quick games.
That series brought possibly the best highlight of Florida’s playoff run when Sergei Bobrovsky made an unbelievable save on Tampa’s Matt Dumba during Game 2.
The second round was a rematch of last season’s opening round when the eight seed Panthers upset the historically good Boston Bruins in a comeback seven-game series win.
This time Florida knocked out the Bruins in an extremely physical six game series that will most be remembered for Sam Bennett’s hit on Brad Marchand and a superstar fight between Matthew Tkachuk and David Pastrnak.
For the second straight postseason, the Panthers would have to get past the Presidents’ Trophy winners on their way to the Stanley Cup Final.
Last year it was Boston in round one, this time it was the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final.
The only game of the six-game series that wasn’t decided by a single goal was the opener, when Bobrovsky shut out the Rangers in their own building.
The next three games all went to overtime, with New York taking the first two but a power play goal by Sam Reinhart early in OT of Game 4 would swing the series back in Florida’s favor.
Game 5 at Madison Square Garden saw the Panthers come from behind to win their sixth playoff road game in eight tries to that point, and the Cats went on to close out the series at home a couple nights later.
Now take a deep breath, because we all know how intense of an emotional roller coaster the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers was.
It started out amazingly. Panthers fans couldn’t have scripted it better.
Florida took the first three games by a combined score of 11-4. They were cruising.
A Stanley Cup seemed imminent.
That’s when Edmonton dug in. Hard.
The Oilers went on to win three straight games of their own, outscoring the Panthers by an eye-popping margin of 18-5.
They didn’t just beat Florida, they dominated them.
But then…Game 7 back in Sunrise.
After back-to-back-to-back games in which the Panthers looked nothing…