The chants were louder. “We want the Cup!” It was Game 6 of the NHL final series and the Amerant Bank Arena turned all Red and Blue tonight. The Florida Panthers entered the series with a 3-2 lead and ended it with a smashing 5-1 victory against the Edmonton Oilers, who tried their best to make it a win. However, for the Cats, it was them sealing their status as back-to-back Stanley Cup champions while becoming just the third team this century to do so.

Sam Reinhart stole the spotlight by scoring four goals and a hat trick that left fans hurling rats and hats while celebrating. And Matthew Tkachuk ended the night perfectly by delivering the Cup-clinching goal, with Sergei Bobrovsky standing tall in net, turning aside 28 of 29 shots. And for Edmonton, their lone goal came late from Vasily Podkolzin, but it wasn’t enough, obviously. Because the Oilers already made their lives difficult, thanks to a costly error.

Less than 5 minutes into the first period, with no real pressure on him, Mattias Ekholm delivered an ill-advised pass to Evan Bouchard, who took his own sweet time trying to settle the puck down, giving the Panthers’ Sam Reinhart the perfect opportunity to pick his pocket and score a breakaway goal. “Defense turns into offense for the Selke finalist,” Jameson Olive, the NHL insider, posted on X. And just like that, Edmonton found themselves trailing in the first period. Again.

Because in all six games, the Panthers dominated the first period, and it looks like it became a recurring pattern that proved costly. While only in Game 4, they somehow made their comeback after being down 3-0 in the first period and later won it in overtime with a 5-4 score. “They’re a good team for a reason and they’ve come out and showed that early in the games, and we have to find a way to be better at the start,” Ekholm told the NHL after the Game 5 loss. Because the Panthers dominated again by scoring twice in the first period and outscoring the Edmonton Oilers 11-4 across all the first five games. And while they weren’t able to fix it, they paid the price in Game 6.

Because both Reinhart and Tkachuk dominated the first period. While Reinhart opened the scoring just 4:36 into the first period after he picked off a pass from Bouchard at the blue line, with just 47 seconds left in the period, Tkachuk stepped into the slot and scored another, giving home crowd the thrill and Florida a 2-0 lead after the first. Yet another strong start from the Panthers, and the Oilers didn’t just lose a game but also set a historical record for the opponents.

Edmonton Oilers gifted a thrilling reward to the Panthers in the Stanley Cup win!

The Oilers didn’t just lose the Stanley Cup but helped the Panthers make history. With constantly giving up early leads throughout the series, the team allowed Florida to control the pace and momentum night after night. Because each time the Panthers struck first, they not only took command of the scoreboard but also added to their total time spent in the lead. Hence, when Reinhardt and Tkachuk gave Florida a 2-0 edge in this one, they sealed more than just the championship.

Chris Jastrzembski, the NHL insider and TNT researcher, pointed out just how dominant the Panthers were, pushing them past the 1987 Oilers to set a new Stanley Cup Final record! “Should the Panthers not lose the lead tonight, they will have led for 255:49, a Stanley Cup Final record surpassing the 1987 Oilers (250:04),” Jastrzembski wrote on X. And hey, they did it by breaking the record of the legendary 1987 Oilers team that featured hockey Hall of Fame icons like Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Jari Kurri!

While it has been a glory for the Panthers, for the Oilers it became a moment to be remembered, but just not the way they hoped. Because the key to this success had been the time spent on holding the lead. And the Panthers did that by building massive leads in all five games and setting a new benchmark with 255 minutes and 49 seconds in the lead during a single Stanley Cup victory.