SUNRISE – (Wire Service Report) – Anton Lundell came off the injured list and provided one goal and two assists in regulation and also scored in the shootout as the host Florida Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins, 5-4, on Wednesday night in South Florida.

Brad Marchand also scored in the four-round shootout. Victor Arvidsson scored for Boston.

The Panthers, who snapped a season-high-tying four-game losing streak, also got two other players back from the injured list: Marchand and Sam Bennett.

Other prominent Panthers still injured are center Aleksander Barkov and defensemen Seth Jones and Dmitry Kulikov.

The Panthers also got goals from Eetu Luostarinen, Uvis Balinskis and Matthew Tkachuk. Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for his first win since Jan. 24.

Boston, playing its final game before its Olympic break, got two goals from Michael Eyssimont. Prior to Wednesday, he had scored just once since Nov. 17. The Bruins also got one goal each from Mark Kastelic and Casey Mittelstadt.

Joonas Korpisalo added 22 saves as the Bruins lost consecutive games for the first time this calendar year.

Bennett appeared to open the scoring just 84 seconds in, but the goal was wiped out on review due to offsides.

The Panthers made it 1-0 — for real this time — as Boston’s Morgan Geekie fanned on a clearing attempt, and that led directly to Luostarinen scoring from the right circle.

However, Boston closed the first period with a 2-1 lead as Eyssimont scored with 12:42 left and again with 7:17 remaining.

On the first goal, Alex Steeves earned the primary assist as he won a puck battle and made a blind pass to Eyssimont, who was in alone on Bobrovsky. On the second one, Eyssimont scored on another breakaway, faking out Bobrovsky before stuffing the puck just inside the right post.

Florida took a 4-2 lead in the second period, scoring twice on its power play and once short-handed.

First, Tkachuk, operating from behind the goal line, tossed a pass to Balinskis, who scored from the slot. Then, less than three minutes later, Florida struck again as Tkachuk made two more great passes before scoring himself, banking the puck in off the back of Korpisalo.

Both times, the Panthers scored within the first 30 seconds with the man advantage.

Florida then added a short-handed goal as Sam Reinhart came up with a steal and then put the puck on Lundell’s stick for a tap-in tally.

However, Boston tied the score 4-4 with third-period goals by Kastelic and then Mittelstadt. First, Kastelic scored on a deflection off a pass from Charlie McAvoy. Then, with 9:30 left in the third, Mittelstadt scored on a rebound, just nine seconds into Boston’s sixth power play of the night.

–Field Level Media

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SUNRISE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Florida’s Sam Reinhart scored four goals to help the Florida Panthers clinch their second straight Stanley Cup Final with a 5-1 victory against the visiting Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 on Tuesday night in South Florida.

Reinhart scored on all four shots he took to become the first player with four goals in a Stanley Cup Final since Montreal’s Maurice “Rocket” Richard in 1957. Reinhart finished with seven goals in the last four games of the series.

Matthew Tkachuk also scored for the Panthers, who are the third team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions in the past 10 years.

Sergei Bobrovsky came within 4:42 of his fourth shutout of the 2025 playoffs before Vasily Podkolzin scored for the Oilers. Bobrovsky finished with 28 saves.

Stuart Skinner made 20 saves for the Oilers, who also lost to the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final last season.

A team from Canada has not won the Cup since 1993.

The Panthers scored the first goal for the fifth straight game.

Edmonton was outshooting Florida 5-0 when Reinhart stole the puck from defenseman Evan Bouchard at his own blue line. He then juked past Mattias Ekholm at the top of the right circle before scoring over Skinner’s glove for a 1-0 lead at 4:36.

The Panthers added to their lead in the final minute of the opening period. Eetu Luostarinen pulled up above the right circle in the Edmonton zone off a rush and waited for Tkachuk, who had just jumped onto the ice.

After receiving Luostarinen’s pass, Tkachuk brought the puck to the high slot before hitting the top right corner of the net with a wrist shot, giving Florida a 2-0 lead with 47 seconds left in the period.

Florida outscored the Oilers 13-4 in the opening period during the series.

Florida made it 3-0 at 17:31 of the second.

Carter Verhaeghe took a wrist shot from along the boards and above the right circle that hit Skinner in the chest. The rebound came out diagonally to Aleksander Barkov cutting through the left circle, and his feed to Reinhart cutting to the opposite post went off his left skate blade and into the Edmonton net.

The Oilers pulled Skinner with about seven minutes left and Reinhart scored into the empty net for a 4-0 lead with 6:24 remaining, giving him the first playoff hat trick in Panthers history.

He wasn’t finished, as Edmonton pulled Skinner again and Reinhart scored into the empty net to make it 5-0 with 5:05 left.

–Field Level Media

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SUNRISE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Edmonton Oilers could have returned home a loss away from falling to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final for a second straight year.

Instead, they have a chance to put themselves one win away from a championship when they host the Panthers for Game 5 on Saturday.

It didn’t look like they would be in this position after Florida staked a 3-0 lead in the first period of Game 4 on Thursday. But the Oilers rallied to take a 4-3 advantage and, after the Panthers tied it in the dying seconds, Leon Draisaitl clinched it in overtime to give the visitors the 5-4 win.

The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2.

“I mean, everybody knows what the crowd’s going to be like, Saturday night in Alberta, it’s going to be exciting,” veteran Edmonton winger Corey Perry said. “But I think I’ve talked about this a lot: We’re mature and I think after that first period last night it showed we’re a mature hockey team. I don’t expect anything else.”

The 40-year-old helped spark the Oilers with some words of wisdom after the first period. He’s also been delivering on the ice with nine goals in the playoffs, second only to Draisaitl. Perry, who is playing in the Stanley Cup Final for the fifth time in the past six seasons, has 140 points (63 goals, 77 assists) in 235 career playoff games.

“He’s been so valuable for us,” Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm said of Perry. “He’s a leader and he knows exactly when to step in there. He doesn’t do it all the time but when he does, it’s always great and gets everybody’s attention.

“I mean, it was good from him last night again, both on the ice and in the locker room. It’s what we expect out of him. He’s getting up there, but he’s still got it.”

The Panthers, meanwhile, are turning the page after the loss. They’ve been here before: Last year, Edmonton erased Florida’s 3-0 series lead to ultimately force a Game 7.

“We’re calm and confident,” Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling said. “If we play our game, we know we’re going to win most games. … The good thing is, we have a game tomorrow, so we’re ready to bounce right back. We’re very excited to get back.”

It’s been an incredibly tight series thus far, with three of the four games going to overtime. Florida’s power play has helped fuel the defending Cup champions, going 7-for-21 with the man advantage.

It could be the edge the Panthers need to regain the series lead; the Oilers have scored just four times on 20 power-play opportunities.

“A lot of the success in postseason is how you handle your losses,” Florida forward Sam Reinhart said. “They’re going to happen, especially when you get down to the last two teams. You’ve got two of the best teams going at it. So you’ve got to expect to lose at some point. There’s a lot we can learn from and come back strong in Game 5.”

Edmonton has not announced a starting goalie for Game 5. Stuart Skinner was pulled after allowing three goals on 17 shots in the first period in Game 4. He was also pulled early in the third period of the 6-1 loss in Game 3.

–Field Level Media

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SUNRISE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Edmonton Oilers showed their disdain for losing with some late-game antics in Monday’s Game 3 loss to the Florida Panthers.

Now, the Oilers must find a way to turn their angst into a victory or risk falling into a dangerously deep hole when they resume the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday in South Florida.

With the Panthers leading 2-1 in the best-of-seven series, the next clash could either send the series back to Edmonton all-square — and with the Oilers regaining the home-ice advantage — or put the Panthers on the cusp of a second consecutive title against the Oilers.

“We’ve always been a good team at coming back out with a strong effort,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said of turning the page from Monday’s 6-1 loss. “Obviously it was not our best showing, not our best game, but we have a great chance … to show what our team is all about.”

Edmonton must do more than just talk about a better performance. The Oilers reached this point thanks to an improved defense to go with their high-octane attack, but they have been undisciplined in the finals and have struggled keeping pucks out of their net.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner is under the microscope having surrendered 13 goals in the series, and boasting an .866 save percentage. But the Oilers as a whole must find another gear to send the series back to their home on even ground.

“It’s one game. We’re looking for the whole series,” Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “We know we’re down 2-1 and we gotta be better next game … but we’re one win away from having the best-out-of-three (series) with two home games.”

Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said Wednesday there probably will be a lineup change. Troy Stecher is a possibility to move in for defenseman John Klingberg, while Knoblauch would not divulge who will start in goal.

Although they lead the series, the Panthers will look forward and not gloat over their early series lead.

Sure, Florida played a fantastic game, but the message from coach Paul Maurice is to park that victory and prepare to earn the next one because he does not believe momentum carries forward to the next outing.

“Every game starts at zeros, and it’s a reset and it’s a mental reset,” Maurice said. “We got beat 8-1 in Edmonton (in Game 4 during last year’s finals) and then came back and played Game 5 here, and for me that was the best game we played in the entire playoffs and we lost the game.”

After the Panthers slammed the door against Edmonton’s dynamic duo, they had best be ready for Edmonton’s best effort. Draisaitl was held without a shot attempt for the Oilers and Connor McDavid managed only a pair of shots and no points.

“The experience of taking a beating and then being able to come back and play your next game lets you know (character is) there,” Maurice said. “It’s also what we expect from Edmonton.”

What bodes well for the defending Stanley Cup champions is that a pair of top-tier players had their best game of the series in Game 3.

Sam Reinhart, who has been playing through an injury during the Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes, scored once in a two-point outing. Captain Aleksander Barkov has been held without a point in the series but was instrumental in Reinhart’s goal by creating a turnover that led to the score.

“I always can be better but all I’m thinking about is winning the game,” Barkov said.

–Field Level Media

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BOSTON – Boston’s Pavel Zacha scored the game-winner with 3:17 left in regulation to punctuate the Bruins’ three-goal third period in a 3-2 win over the visiting Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.

On the clinching goal, Zacha was the beneficiary of a backhand pass from David Pastrnak, who spun off a check in the corner and dished a backhand pass out to the crease.

Pastrnak was the lone Bruin with multiple points (one goal, one assist). His 33rd goal of the season came on the power play and got Boston on the scoreboard with 11:04 left in regulation.

Mason Lohrei also scored and Jeremy Swayman stopped 26 shots for the Bruins, who have won back-to-back games since finalizing a series of deadline transactions that included dealing captain Brad Marchand to Florida. The longtime Bruin didn’t suit up against his former team in this one.

Dmitry Kulikov and Mackie Samoskevich scored for the Atlantic Division-leading Panthers, who had a six-game win streak snapped.

Sam Bennett and Seth Jones had one assist each for Florida, while Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves.

Florida led 28-24 in shots on goal, and special teams played a role with both teams finding the back of the net during a power play.

Minutes after Bobrovsky stopped Pastrnak’s partial breakaway, Casey Mittelstadt centered a pass that found the star winger on the doorstep for the first Boston goal.

The Bruins then tied the game with 6:09 left, as Lohrei skated into the slot and fired a wrist shot past Bobrovsky. Jakub Lauko won a puck battle along the wall to create the play.

Kulikov netted Florida’s second shot for the game-opening goal at 4:27 and ultimately took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. The defenseman sent a one-timer from the high slot past Swayman, triggering the shot directly off a Bennett faceoff win.

The hosts generated quality chances on back-to-back power plays in the second, but were unable to find a tying goal on either. Bobrovsky made a key stop as the first advantage expired, getting a piece of Pavel Zacha’s drive from the right circle that Ian Mitchell set up.

Swayman recovered from a potential misplay of a carom off the boards, keeping his team in a one-goal game when he dove back to stop Anton Lundell’s open chance with 5:47 left in the second.

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SUNRISE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s David Pastrnak scored with 1.2 seconds left in overtime for theBruins, who snapped a six-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday afternoon in Florida.

Pastrnak, who finished with two goals and one assist, got the game winner on an attempted pass that deflected in off the stick of Florida’s Sam Reinhart. The puck carried over the head of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for Pastrnak’s sixth goal in his past five games.

The Bruins, who earned their first win of the calendar year after an 0-5-1 stretch since 2025 began, got one goal each from Morgan Geekie and Oliver Wahlstrom.

The Panthers got two goals from Reinhart and one from Evan Rodrigues.

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SUNRISE – Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe scored one goal and assisted on another to pace the Panthers to a 2-1, Stanley Cup-clinching victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday in Game 7 in Florida. Verhaeghe’s teammate Sam Reinhart netted the Cup-winning goal for the Panthers, who saw a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series disappear before claiming the first Stanley Cup title in franchise history with the Game 7 victory.

Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves for the Panthers, nine in the final frame. His biggest play was a diving stop on Zach Hyman during a scramble at his net with seven minutes remaining.

Mattias Janmark scored for Edmonton, while goalie Stuart Skinner stopped 19 shots. Edmonton captain Connor McDavid was held without a point for the second consecutive game.

The Oilers, who were attempting to become only the second team in history and first since 1942 to win after falling behind 3-0 in the finals, lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final their last two trips. The also fell just short in 2006 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Reinhart provided Florida its second lead of the night at 15:11 of the second period. Seconds after the Oilers nearly scored during a flurry of action at both ends, Reinhart led a rush up ice and found the mark from just beyond the right faceoff dot for his 10th of the playoffs.

The Oilers dominated the third period, holding the Panthers to only four shots on goal in the frame and only two in the final 14:43. However, Edmonton could not find the equalizer in the entertaining affair despite a litany of action at the Florida net.

The clubs traded first-period goals just over two minutes apart. Verhaeghe’s first goal since he opened the scoring in Game 1 of the finals put the Panthers on the board first. He deflected Evan Rodrigues’ shot for his 11th of the playoffs at 4:27.

Janmark replied at 6:44 with his second of the series and fourth of the post-season by converting a breakaway chance with a top-shelf shot.

Instead of repeating history with a completed comeback, the Oilers are only the second team in history to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-0 in the finals before losing the deciding clash. The Detroit Red Wings pushed the Toronto Maple Leafs to a Game 7 in that scenario in 1945, three years after the Maple Leafs rallied from three games down to top the Red Wings in the finals.

Edmonton’s defeat extends the string of years since a Canadian team last won the Stanley Cup to 31. The Montreal Canadiens last brought the cup north in 1993.

–Field Level Media

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SUNRISE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The thrill of victory and agony of defeat at stake in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final are next-level. The routes both the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers have taken to reach the winner-take-all clash will take that emotion off the charts.

The Panthers play host the Oilers on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla., on the heels of blowing a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven championship series. Only once in finals history has a team failed to close out the series when up 3-0, the 1942 Detroit Red Wings, who lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Conversely, the Oilers are not only looking to cap an incredible comeback in the same manner as those Maple Leafs, but they also risk becoming the second team in NHL history to erase a three-game deficit only to lose the finals in Game 7. (Coincidentally, it was the 1945 Red Wings who took that path and ended up losing to Toronto, again.)

The pressure is huge. Or is it?

“Game 7, at home, how could you not be so jacked up?” Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “This is an absolutely incredible, incredible opportunity. So, yes, you want to recognize or remember some of the good things that helped you beat these guys earlier in the series, but I’m trying to forget all of it. Just go in there and win one game. This is what it comes down to.”

It sounds simple, but the Panthers have failed three consecutive times to close out a series they appeared to have complete control of, and have done so in stunning fashion. Starting with an 8-1 victory in Game 4, the Oilers have outscored the Panthers 18-5 in the past three outings. Florida has not held a lead in any of those defeats.

Suffering a reverse-sweep loss with a shot at winning the first Cup in franchise history would be a painful experience on its own, but doing it in such inglorious fashion would be crushing.

The key for the Panthers will be not allowing the negative thoughts to paralyze their game.

“Game 6, there are a lot of options in your mind. Game 7, it’s one game and you just have to prepare yourself,” Florida forward Vladimir Tarasenko said.

“We still have another chance to win a Cup. You have to fix what you have to fix and come in with a positive mindset and believe in the guy next to you. This maybe sounds pretty simple, but it is what it is.”

The home team boasts a 12-5 record all-time in Game 7 of the finals but the road team has won the last three games.

The Oilers are well aware they have the opportunity to make history by earning the franchise’s first Cup since 1990.

“We’re all human and we’re aware of what we’ve accomplished so far, but if you go past that, it comes down to one game,” forward Leon Draisaitl said. “We have to focus on winning one hockey game on the road and play our best. Everything else, all the stories, will take care of itself after.”

That said, Edmonton’s skaters must not get ahead of themselves by thinking they are a runaway train that cannot be stopped.

“You’ve got to prepare just like you always do,” captain Connor McDavid said. “It’s not your ordinary game, everybody understands that, but you’ve got to make it as ordinary as possible in your head, and part of that is just sticking to your routine. Our room has done a great job of being at our best in big moments and I would not expect anything different.”

–Field Level Media

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EDMONTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists to help the Edmonton Oilers avoid elimination with an 8-1 win against the visiting Florida Panthers on Saturday night in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Game 5 is set for Tuesday in South Florida.

Dylan Holloway had two goals and an assist and Mattias Janmark had a goal and an assist for Edmonton. Adam Henrique, Darnell Nurse, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ryan McLeod also scored, while Stuart Skinner made 32 saves.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped just 11 of 16 shots before he was replaced by Anthony Stolarz, who finished with 16 saves for Florida.

The Oilers never trailed, building a 3-1 lead in the first period.

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BOSTON – Florida’s Gustav Forsling’s rebound goal with 1:33 left in regulation lifted the visiting Panthers to a 2-1, series-clinching win over the host Bruins in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Friday.

Anton Lundell had his initial shot stopped by Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman (26 saves), but from the left side Forsling slipped the loose puck inside the near post for the deciding goal.

Lundell finished with a goal and an assist after scoring the tying tally at 12:44 of the second, helping the Panthers to their sixth straight playoff win at TD Garden.

Pavel Zacha scored Boston’s lone goal.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves for Florida, including nine in the third period.

Bruins captain Brad Marchand returned to the lineup following a two-game absence due to an upper-body injury.

After the Bruins were unable to clear a shot blocked by Jake DeBrusk, Lundell picked up a loose puck in the slot and unleashed a dart to beat Swayman and tie the game at 12:44 of the middle frame.

A rollercoaster first period saw the Bruins post the first four shots on goal before a span of 14:11 without one, but Zacha buried the opening goal — the first of his 25-game playoff career — with 52.8 seconds left to make it 1-0.

DeBrusk continued his strong playmaking run with a dish off the neutral zone wall to spring Zacha for the breakaway, which he brought to his backhand and slipped under the crossbar.

Bobrovsky came up with several key saves in the second period that allowed his Panthers to tie the game, including denying Justin Brazeau’s one-timer on the same shift as Lundell’s goal.

Florida looked to take a 2-1 lead in the opening minute of the third. Brandon Montour took a slapper from the right point that Swayman initially thought beat him through the five-hole, but the Boston netminder had the puck behind his pads after it clanked off the post.

Bobrovsky made another important stop eight minutes into the final frame, holding both posts to keep out Charlie McAvoy’s driving attempt to the crease.

Neither team could cash in on a power-play attempt late in the third period, which included 22 overlapping seconds of 4-on-4.

–Field Level Media

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