The Florida Panthers have gone from runners-up to champions.
The Panthers fended off the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final on Monday at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
The Oilers had won three straight games to erase Florida's 3-0 series lead and force the deciding Game 7. But Paul Maurice's club bounced back in the winner-take-all spot to capture the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship.
The Panthers' championship triumph comes after losing each of their two previous Cup Final appearances. And one of those Cup Final losses was just last year when the Panthers fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.
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By getting back to the Cup Final -- and winning this time around -- the Panthers made rare NHL history:
Has a team ever won the Stanley Cup Final the year after losing it?
The Panthers aren’t the first team to win it all the year after falling in the Cup Final.
How many teams have won the Stanley Cup Final the year after losing it?
In the NHL’s expansion era (since the 1967-68 season), there have now been just three teams that have followed up a Cup Final loss with a championship.
Who was the last team to win the Stanley Cup Final the year after losing it?
Before the Panthers' championship, the Pittsburgh Penguins had been the most recent team to achieve the feat. After losing the 2008 Cup Final in six games to the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh beat Detroit in seven games to capture the 2009 Cup.
Other than those Panthers and Penguins teams, the Oilers in 1984 are the only other ones to pull it off in the expansion era. Edmonton was swept by the New York Islanders in the 1983 Cup Final before defeating the Isles in five games the following year.
