June 17 (UPI) -- Sam Reinhart scored four times and the Florida Panthers defenders thwarted Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers offense in a Game 6 domination to secure a second-consecutive Stanley Cup on Tuesday in Sunrise, Fla.
The Panthers became the seventh team in the expansion era -- since 1967-68 -- to win back-to-back titles with their 5-1 victory at Amerant Bank Arena. They are the third team to beat the same team in the Stanley Cup Final two consecutive times since the start of the expansion era. They also set a record for the most time leading, 255:49, during a Stanley Cup Final series.
"It's not easy coming back," Reinhart said on the TNT broadcast. "You know how hard it is to do. Sometimes it benefits you, sometimes it doesn't. We just stuck with it.
"A lot has to go your way to be standing here at the end. We were up for the task again."
Reinhart became the sixth player in history to score four goals in a Stanley Cup Final, and the first to do so since Maurice Richard in 1957. With their loss, the Oilers extended a drought of 33 years without a Canadian team winning the Stanley Cup.
Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves. Carter Verhaeghe logged three assists in Game 6. Fellow Panthers forward Sam Bennett, who scored a postseason-high 15 goals, earned the Conn Smythe Trophy -- given to the MVP of the playoffs.
"Words can't put this into reality, how great it feels," Panthers forward Brad Marchand said. "It's such an incredible group. Everybody wrote us off. We just had that fire. We knew we had something special."
The Panthers -- who scored at least twice in the first period of each of their first five Stanley Cup games -- used another hot start to jump ahead, with Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk each beating goaltender Stuart Skinner for first-period scores.
Reinhart drew first blood when he stole the puck from defenseman Evan Bouchard less than three minutes into the game. The Panthers' forward then poked the puck around defenseman Mattias Ekholm, knifed through the left circle and did a beautiful inside-outside move on Skinner before delivering a diving shot into the right side of the net.
Panthers forwards Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen assisted Tkachuk for another goal with 47 seconds remaining in the frame. Ludell sparked the sequence by poking the puck loose from Bouchard.
Luostarinen then took control in the neutral zone, eyes the defense and slid a pass back to Tkachuk. The Panthers star skated above the slot before unleashing a shot over Skinner and into the net.
Reinhart gave the Panthers a three-score advantage with his ninth goal of the postseason with 2:29 remaining in the second period. Skinner deflected an initial attempt from Verhaeghe on that play. Fellow forward Aleksander Barkov then sent a follow-up shot back in front of the net, where it met Reinhart's skate and beat Skinner.
The desperate Oilers applied pressure with their physicality and continued to unload shots, but could not find sustained success against the stingy Panthers defense and Bobrovsky.
Reinhart completed his hat trick with an empty net score with 6:34 remaining. He buried another empty netter 89 seconds later. Forward Vasily Podkolzin scored the Oilers' lone goal by beating Bobrovsky with a backhander with 4:42 remaining.
"It's so emotional," Tkachuk said. "You have a childhood dream to win the Stanley Cup. To do this back-to-back times, go to three straight Finals, win two of them. I mean we're are a dynasty. I cant believe that this is what happened in the last few years. ... The culture down here is very, very unique.
"Hopefully we can do it again."
