SUNRISE, Fla. — The Oilers’ greatest NHL story of all time turned out to be an unfinished business.
Instead, the Panthers defeated the Oilers 2-1 on Monday night at Amerant Bank Arena to become Stanley Cup champions for the first time.
The home team avoided their worst ever defeat after losing the previous three games in the series.
Sam Reinhart’s goal late in the second period was the winning goal, and Sergei Bobrovsky, who had allowed 12 goals in his three losses, stopped 22 of 23 shots.
Those waiting for Connor McDavid, known as the best player in the world, to finally take over and solidify the Oilers dream will have to wait until next year.
So are those rooting for the first Stanley Cup winner from north of the border since the Canadiens beat the Kings in 1993.
And Edmonton missed out on a sixth title, which would have been the first without either Wayne Gretzky (four) or Mark Messier (one) as captain.
But McDavid held on to a league-leading 42 points and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP throughout the playoffs.
Fans booed commissioner Gary Bettman as the Stanley Cup was presented onto the ice and moments before Bettman handed it to Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov.
With about seven minutes left in the game, things got a little dicey for Bobrovsky as McDavid roamed freely in the slot with the puck.
The playoff MVP didn’t get a clean shot, but the goalie ended up having to save a shot by Zach Hyman.
With 3:40 left, Bobrovsky fell on the ice multiple times, dropped his stick and the Oilers couldn’t find a handle on it.
The Oilers kept up the pressure, and the decibel level in the building rose even higher, but the red light behind Bobrovsky never came on.
The horn sounded as the puck settled in a scrum in the right corner, the Cats charged at Bobrovsky and smashed the team’s special rubber ball onto the ice.
The team wasted no time and swung into action.
Florida got its first power play when Brandon Montour received a high stick from Warren Vogel in front of the Panthers goal.
The Oilers have acquitted themselves on the penalty kill for the 47th time in their last 48 attempts.
But when Vogel returned, the Panthers still had possession of the puck, moving it from low to high, and just 4:27 into the game, Carter Verhaeghe scored off a deflected shot by Evan Rodriguez to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
Montour did the same a few minutes later, blocking a McDavid shot from the left circle, but the Oilers tied the game at 6:44 when Cody Ceci sent a stretch pass to Mattias Janmark, who beat Bobrovsky and dove goal-side to score.
At the end of the first period, the Panthers held a 17-5 advantage in hits and 8-6 advantage in shots on goal.
The latter statistic included another zero from McDavid, who didn’t take a single shot in the Oilers’ Game 6 win.
The superstar’s first shot came two minutes into the second period, a backhand shot from the bottom of the left circle that was blocked by Bobrovsky.
The Oilers’ first power play came 3:22 into the second period when Matthew Tkachuk went down and his leg hit Vogel.
The Oilers passed the puck around in Florida’s zone for nearly two minutes, but Bobrovsky handled a close-range shot from Leon Draisaitl and a one-timer from Evan Bouchard.
The man-up opportunity tipped the ice in Edmonton’s favor before the Panthers started to gain momentum again.
Dmitry Kulikov made a key play by clearing the puck from the goal line with Dylan Holloway closing in on him.
The puck went to Verhaeghe, who passed it to Reinhart on the right wing, whose wrist shot beat Stuart Skinner low and glove-side with 4:49 left to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead and a path to the promised land.
The Oilers’ season was already one for the record books even before their historic comeback in the Stanley Cup Final.
Head coach Jay Woodcroft was fired after a 3-9-1 start, and Oilers chief hockey operations officer Jeff Jackson and general manager Ken Holland reached into the minor leagues to scout for talent.
Chris Knoblock, who previously coached the Rangers’ AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolfpack, previously coached superstar McDavid during his final three junior years with the Erie Otters.
After suffering three straight losses early in the season under Knoblock’s management, the Oilers have since reeled off eight straight wins.
After their second three-game losing streak, the team went on a 16-game winning streak, the second-longest in NHL history.
So while a 0-3 start in a Cup final was nothing new for them, it proved to be too big a mountain to overcome.
