Panthers shut down Connor McDavid, Oilers to capture the Stanley Cup
for the first time in a franchise history that spans 30 years the Florida Panthers have hoisted Lord Stanley the Panthers won the Stanley Cup Final taking game seven over the Edmonton Oilers 2 to one so let’s look back and recap the final as well as look ahead to the NHL off season we’re going to do that with a writer from the hockey news who covers the Tampa Bay Lightning you can also catch her on Sirius XM NHL Network radio her name is Deandra Lou and she joins me now Deandra how you doing hello I’m good how are you I’m doing good I enjoyed a thrilling game seven I thought it was great did you enjoy it as well I’m assuming you did yeah no it was a great game and I uh I knew it would be close you know any any game seven you know it’s going to be a pretty tight game but um you know the Panthers came out with a win I I thought the Oilers did the best that they could so I’m sure we’ll get more into that though we we will the Oilers definitely fought until the end and Deandra the Florida Panthers they just secured as I mentioned their first Stanley Cup title in franchise history what do you think were the key factors that led to their success this season and postseason yeah no listen the the writing was on the wall with the Panthers right they they played a defensive game it was kind of a a shutdown defensive game and that’s what you need in the Stanley Cup playoffs and kind of like what you mentioned I I covered the Tampa Bay Lightning right and that’s how they won back-to-back Stanley Cup so we saw the Panthers Do It um and they were just they were shutting down the stars um in each series that they played in and um you know I would say you know they slipped in game four through game six right we saw little cracks in their game but last night was a big one they seemed to be back on track and they were not once they got the lead the 2-1 lead they were not going to let that go it was a a defense forward game yeah I said that to my editor I was texting her who was a huge hockey fan and I said hey they get that lead I think Florida holds on here and they definitely did that and speaking of that game seven Victory it was a nailbiter d’angel with the Panthers edging out the oers 2 to one what stood out to you the most in that final game and how did the Panthers managed to hold off the Oilers who had a insane late game push they came with a flurry in the third period how did they hold them off yeah I mean I I kind of mentioned it earlier but you know they’re able to shut down the stars and one thing that the the Panthers do really well is they hang out in front of the net and in games four through game six we saw Edmonton they were able to chip away at their game and kind of draw them away from the net and leave bosi you know on his own and you got Conor McDavid right there with ver bosski but last night I mean like I said the Panthers were back on their game and even though Edmonton really made a push in the third period Conor McDavid didn’t have a shot on goal they were able to shut him down and same with dradle um and while he’s an incredible player he can’t carry the team to a Stanley Cup Championship so the Panthers were able to you know weather the storm and boski was getting peppered there uh at the end but one thing with the Stanley Cup is everything there’s there’s a list of things that have to go right for you to win the Stanley Cup and I noticed there in the third even when Edmonton was really making that push the puck was not going in the net and at one point barosi was out of position Conor McDavid basically had an open net and he just could not get the puck there so um you know things really do have to go your way and you know one the Panthers took the lead there was no uh there was nothing that Edmonton could do I really believe that that the Panthers were going to let them you know get the puck in the back of the net they were not going to let them even that one up it to did not happen and you talked about the Oilers Conor McDavid and Edmonton they almost pulled off a historic reverse sweep after falling behind 3 0 in the series what went wrong for Edmonton in game seven you kind of Hit Upon it with their Stars not being able to deler but what do you think are the key areas that they need to address in offseason to come back stronger next season yeah well first of all I want to give them credit because they won three in a row in a Stanley Cup Final and the fact that they did that was incredible I really believed going into game seven that it was an even playing field it could go either way and they played really well defensively you know we talked about the Panthers but you know the Oilers did as well and goal tending was great and like you have Conor McDavid who is you know the biggest star in the entire NHL so uh what went wrong I think the Panthers really shut down their stars as they did with every matchup that they had in the postseason and you know Conor McDavid is as incredible as he is you know they layered the coverage on him so he he was double covered and you got to have the other stars step up so it’s got to be a full team effort everyone has to be on their aame and we saw the Panthers do it all of their players they had a lot of depth everybody was showing up last night um and so I think you know the time will come for Conor McDavid to Hoist the cup and it just wasn’t this year they’re probably going to take a lot of what they saw a lot of what the Panthers did this season and I think every team in the league is going to take what the Panthers did this season and they’ll make adjustments accordingly you know free agencies coming up in just a few days and I think that we’ll see uh some moves made in order to to kind of fit that game and and I’m sure they’ll go for a run next year they will go for it next year for sure Edmonton trying to get back to the Cup Final and win it all like the Panthers did this year and you just mentioned the NHL offseason as we head into that what are some of the major storylines that you’re going to keep an eye on particularly in terms of player trades and free agency yeah know like I said I cover the Tampa Bay Lightning and I think one storyline that the entire league is paying attention to right now is the lightning Captain Steven stamp Co he was the first overall pick in the draft in 2008 so he spent 16 years with the organization he’s known to be one of the best captains in the league and um you know if he doesn’t get signed in the next few days he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent which would be honestly catastrophic for that team I watched every player come out and advocate for him to be resigned and uh you know that hasn’t come through yet so maybe now that the staning Cup Final is over you know we’ll see a lot of teams making moves and I would I would think uh stamp Coast will be first on the list that’s a top priority for the lightning but like I said they’ve only got a few days um and then he would become an unrestricted free agent I think the league would line up to sign Steven stamp Co yeah I think they would it’s hard to see him in another uniform though that would be shocking to see especially for the lightning fans last thing for me DeAndre when you look ahead to the 2024 2025 season who do you see I know that we still have free agency to go through but who do you see as the early favorites to Hoist the Stanley Cup and why and then I’ll also ask this do you think the Panthers do you think they have a strong chance of repeating their success that we saw this season yeah I mean listen Never Say Never about the Panthers winning back-to-back cups the lightning did it a few years ago but it is extremely difficult to do and you know the Panthers made a run you know they made it to the Stanley Cup Final last year and that just takes such a toll on your body both mentally and physically they’ve really short summer they’re going to have it again this year and they’ll be celebrating which is great but uh to win back back cups is is very difficult so uh never say never but I think that we need to watch Edmonton because you know once you get a taste of winning the Stanley Cup you want it again right and the Panthers were in that position last year I think Edmonton you know Conor McDavid is going to want to hoist that cup and they’re going to learn from their mistakes that they had in this series and they’re going to want to come back uh and win next year yeah they’re going to want to do that they’re going to be very hungry we’ll see how it all plays out should it be a very interesting NHL off season after we just saw a fantastic Stanley final with the Florida Panthers hoisting Lord Stanley that is Deandra Lou from the hockey news she covers the Tampa Bay Lightning also catch her on Sirius XM NHL Network radio Deandra pleasure to connect with you and do this we have to talk some more hockey down the road for sure yeah let’s do it thanks so much for having me anytime
Diandra Loux, who covers the Tampa Bay Lightning for ‘The Hockey News’, joins New York Post Sports anchor Dexter Henry to recap how the 2024 Florida Panthers won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title, how the Edmonton Oilers and Connor McDavid nearly completed the reverse-sweep and the top storylines that NHL fans should keep in mind as the offseason begins.
#oilers #floridapanthers #nhl #hockey #stanleycup #stanleycupfinals #stanleycupplayoffs #siriusxm #nypostsports
0:00 Intro
0:58 How the Panthers secured franchise’s first Stanley Cup
2:00 Key takeaways from Game 7
3:50 What went wrong for Edmonton in the winner-take-all game?
5:32 Major storylines to watch for in the offseason
6:45 Who should be favored to win the 2025 Stanley Cup?
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