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GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS | OILERS VS. PANTHERS | STANLEY CUP HIGHLIGHTS

AVALANCHE F NATHAN MACKINNON WINS FIRST HART TROPHY

USA TODAY Sports 

 Colorado Avalanche star forward Nathan MacKinnon won his first career Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player on Thursday.

MacKinnon, 28, beat Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the honor, one of five major awards handed out at Thursday night's NHL Awards.

Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks won the Calder Trophy for outstanding rookie, Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks ran away with the Norris Trophy for outstanding defenseman, Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets won his second Vezina Trophy for the league's top goaltender and MacKinnon also received of the Ted Lindsay Award, voted most outstanding player by his peers in the NHLPA.

MacKinnon was a top-three finalist for the Hart three times (2018, 2020, 2021) before finally breaking through.

"Congrats to Kuch and Connor, it could easily be any of you guys," MacKinnon said in his acceptance speech. "I think everyone knows it was such a toss-up this year. I'd like to thank the writers. I'm truly honored."

In his 11th NHL season, MacKinnon powered Colorado with career highs of 51 goals, 89 assists and 140 points in playing all 82 games.

Bedard, still just 18, lived up to the hype that surrounded him when the Blackhawks selected him No. 1 overall in last year's draft. Despite missing 14 games due to a fractured jaw, he led all rookies in goal (22) and points (61) while tying for first among rookies with 39 assists. His 61 points also led Chicago.

"It's a cool honor, for sure," Bedard said. "There's a lot of people who go into it. Obviously, it's an individual award but it's cool to celebrate it almost with your teammates and family, just with the help they've put toward it."

Bedard had 152 first-place votes, the other 42 going to Minnesota's Brock Faber. New Jersey's Luke Hughes took third.

Hughes, 24, set career highs with 17 goals, 75 assists and 92 points while playing in all 82 games for Vancouver. He became the first member of the Canucks to win the award.

"It's surreal and probably hasn't sunk in yet," Hughes said. "It was a great season for me and for our team. Took a lot of steps forward individually and as a group, so really proud of the year."

Hughes won 172 of 194 first-place votes. Roman Josi of Nashville and Cale Makar of Colorado finished a distant second and third in voting, respectively.

Hellebuyck, 31, also won the Vezina in 2020. He went 37-19-4 with a 2.39 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and five shutouts in 60 games. He also won the William M. Jennings Trophy, presented to the qualifying goalie for allowing the fewest goals during the regular season.

"I think we made really big strides this year," Hellebuyck said of the Jets. "We changed our identity a little bit and we brought a solid, winning philosophy to Winnipeg, and I think our fans and I think our team bought in. And just that all-around buy-in, I'm pretty proud of that."

Hellebuyck beat Vancouver's Thatcher Demko and Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky, who placed second and third, respectively, in voting.

- Reuters 

GAME 6 | PANTHERS @ OILERS | NHL FINAL

 

NHL 🏒 HISTORY | STANLEY CUP FINAL 2024

 

PANTHERS KEEPING COOL AS HOSTS OILERS TRY TO FORCE GAME 7 IN FINALS

USA TODAY Sports 

 Pressure? What pressure?

That is the attitude of the Florida Panthers are they prepare for their third chance to close out the Stanley Cup Final on Friday against the host Edmonton Oilers.

The Panthers appeared well on their way to claiming the first championship in franchise history while winning the first three games of the best-of-seven series. They have dropped the last two games, the latest Tuesday's 5-3 loss in Sunrise, Fla.

The Panthers are doing their best to remain calm about the moment, knowing full well the screws will tighten if they drop this game and head to a deciding Game 7 at home.

"Go up there and we've got to win one game," forward Evan Rodrigues said. "That's our mindset and that's what we're going to do."

That said, the Panthers are not sticking with the status quo. Coach Paul Maurice appears set to make a couple of changes based on Thursday's practice. Left winger Carter Verhaeghe, in need of an offensive jolt, skated on the top line while fellow left winger Rodrigues switched spots and was moved to the second line.

As well, forward Nick Cousins received a present on his 31st birthday with news he will be back in the lineup in place of Kyle Okposo on the fourth line. Cousins had been a healthy scratch for the past eight postseason games.

"Those guys that have kind of come in and out of the lineup, you can just tell that it's not easy for them," Maurice said. "But in their off-time, and being under less game intensity, they come back in and they're jacked."

Whether those roster moves and the reset after last game are the tonic for the Panthers remains to be seen, but the Oilers have pulled back from the brink with a couple of outstanding performances.

They are looking to join only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup after losing the first three games of the finals.

"We feel very fortunate to be in this situation, but I know I have a team full of guys who are hungry to make sure they get to play two more games and not just one," coach Kris Knoblauch said.

The Oilers have executed the game plan perfectly to turn the tide. Wins in Games 4 and 5 came in emphatic fashion by a combined 13-4 score. Holding the Panthers in check while showing their high-octane offense has been an impressive feat.

"It's been lovely to see," goaltender Stuart Skinner said. "I think we've got a lot of guys fully committed to playing both ends of the ice, which is an absolute need, especially at this time of the year."

Of course it helps when the Oilers have superstar captain Connor McDavid leading the way. McDavid, who is only the third player in NHL history to collect 40 points in a single postseason, posted consecutive four-point performances to elevate his team to this point in their comeback. He is at 42, only behind Wayne Gretzky with 47 in 1985, Mario Lemieux with 44 in 1991 and Gretzky with 43 in 1988.

This year's playoff run has shown McDavid's ability to embrace the biggest of moments and excel during them.

"You spend your life working to get into a position like this. When you're here, you think there's going to be some magic feeling, but it's all been pretty normal," McDavid said. "This has always been part of the plan for our group. A position like this, playing big games at home, big moments, and there's another tomorrow night."

Oilers forward Evander Kane is a game-time decision for Game 6, Knoblauch announced Friday morning.

Kane sat out the last three games due to an undisclosed injury. He skated with forwards Sam Gagner and Sam Carrick outside of the team's top four lines in practice on Thursday.

- Reuters 

PANTHERS NOW 2 WINS FROM STANLEY CUP, TOP OILERS 4-1 FOR 2-0 LEAD ON TITLE SERIES

AP Photo 

 SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl knocked Florida's Aleksander Barkov out of the game. The Panthers made sure they responded by landing the bigger blow.

And the Stanley Cup Final took a heated turn Monday night.

Evan Rodrigues had a pair of third-period goals, Niko Mikkola and Aaron Ekblad also scored and the Panthers used yet another airtight finishing kick to pull away and beat the Oilers 4-1 for a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 shots for Florida, which was 1-8 all-time in Cup final games before this series started — and now is two wins away from capturing its first championship. Score through two games: Florida 7, Edmonton 1.

“A six-man job against the best players in the world,” Ekblad said.

But the win came with a price for Florida as the Panthers lost Barkov, their captain when Edmonton forward Draisaitl launched toward him midway through the third period and hit him in the head. Barkov remained down for some time, needed help getting to the bench and went down the tunnel for the Florida locker room for further evaluation.

Florida coach Paul Maurice offered no update on Barkov's condition, and was far more tight-lipped than he tends to be after wins.

“This isn’t The Oprah Winfrey Show,” Maurice said of the Barkov hit. “My feelings don’t matter.”

Mattias Ekholm scored and Stuart Skinner stopped 25 shots for the Oilers, who now have to buck some serious history.

Edmonton has only successfully rallied from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series once — against San Jose in Round 2 of the 2006 playoffs. And teams that start the Stanley Cup Final down 2-0 have come back to win only five times in 54 previous situations.

AP Photo 

“I think we feel that we came here and played well enough that we should have a split," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “It doesn’t always happen.”

The series resumes with Game 3 in Edmonton on Thursday night.

“We can certainly be better,” Draisaitl said. “It starts with me. ... I certainly have a lot more to give. Not my best tonight. Obviously, owning that.”

Draisaitl was given only a minor penalty for roughing on the hit that knocked Barkov from the game. Rodrigues got a tip-in goal to make it 3-1, the first power-play score Edmonton allowed in its last 34 times being down a man.

Connor McDavid had a chance to get Edmonton within one on a breakaway with about 6 minutes left. He got stopped by Bobrovsky, and then he and Matthew Tkachuk tussled a bit along the boards after the play — the Panthers still steaming over the hit on Barkov.

“I have no response or comment on that,” Tkachuk said when asked what he thought of Draisaitl's hit on Barkov, and if he had a level of concern that Florida's captain could miss time.

Said McDavid of the hit: “I thought it was part of the game.”

And added Ekblad: “We're hoping he'll be fine.”

Emotions were high all night. Edmonton’s Warren Foegele was ejected in the first period for a knee-on-knee hit that knocked Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen from the game briefly; that ejection, plus an injury to Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse left them with only 11 forwards and five defensemen for much of the game.

Rodrigues scored early in the third off a turnover for a 2-1 lead, setting the tone for yet another Florida comeback. The Panthers — who trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes — are now an NHL-best 5-2 when trailing after one period in these playoffs.

Ekblad sealed it with an empty-netter with 2:28 left.

“It's supposed to be hard. It's supposed to be difficult,” McDavid said. “I'm excited to see what our group's made of.”

Just like Game 1, one team cashed in on its first shot. It was Florida on Saturday, and Edmonton this time.

There wasn't much to it: Ekholm skated nearly the full length of the ice with the teams playing 4-on-4, taking a harmless-looking shot that got between Bobrovsky's leg pads and squirted into the back of the net. McDavid — playing in the building where he got drafted in 2015 — got one of the assists on the goal, his 27th assist of this postseason.

Midway through the second, the Panthers knotted it up. Mikkola had two shots on a shift; one was at the wrong net, and the other more than atoned for that near-blunder.

Moments after he inadvertently wheeled a backhand toward Bobrovsky — who was alert enough to save his teammate from the embarrassment of an own goal — Mikkola handled a delivery from Anton Lundell and blasted it past Skinner to pull Florida into a 1-1 tie.

“Bob was awake,” Mikkola said.

Shots were 22-7 Florida after 40 minutes, the Oilers — who led the league in shots on goal this season — being held to a season-low entering the third. Bobrovsky was tested a ton more in the third than he was in the first two periods, but was up to the task again and yielded two goals or fewer for the 12th time in his last 13 games.

And Florida, for the first time, is two wins from the Cup.

“It's special,” Rodrigues said. “Trying to embrace it. Trying to stay in the moment. That's two big wins for our team, but I think we've already turned the page and are getting ready for Game 3.”

- TIM REYNOLDS

BOBVROVSKY MAKES 32 SAVES AS THE PANTHERS SHUT OUT THE OILERS 3-0 IN GAME 1 OF STANLEY CUP

AP 

 SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Sergei Bobrovsky turned the puck over on the first shift and recovered. He lost his stick for 30 seconds at one point and still made saves. Connor McDavid put six shots on net, and none of them went in.

Bobrovsky put on a masterclass against McDavid and every other player who dared test him and his teammates pounced when given the chance. As a result, the Florida Panthers are off and rolling in the Stanley Cup Final.

With the goalie everyone simply calls “Bob” unbeatable in stopping all 32 shots he faced from every angle and in every situation in one of the most memorable playoff goaltending performances in recent history and thanks to goals from Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues, the Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Saturday night in Game 1 of the NHL’s best-of-seven championship series.

“It’s fun to play those guys, those elite guys and it’s a fun atmosphere," Bobrovsky said. "I am just alive for the opportunity, and I enjoy every second of it.”

Chants of “Bobby! Bobby!” repeated themselves over and over as Bobrovsky turned aside multiple breakaways, stopped McDavid when the reigning and three-time MVP went into turbo mode and flew all around and outside the crease to make Florida’s net an impenetrable fortress.

Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner for his stellar regular-season play registered his second shutout of this run and third in the playoffs over his 14-year career. Thanks to him, the Panthers have a lead in the Cup final for the first time in franchise history and are now three wins away from hoisting hockey’s hallowed trophy for the first time.

It didn’t even matter that they were outshot 32-18. Back in the final for a second consecutive season and healthier and more prepared for the moment than in the five-game loss to Vegas a year ago, Florida showed experience on this stage does matter, handling pressure and tense moments throughout like most of its players have been here before.

“We kind of know what it takes this year,” Verhaeghe said. “We know how challenging it is, the ups and downs of playoffs and the grind of it. I think that makes us more equipped this year.”

The goals by Verhaeghe and Rodrigues came on the first five shots on net against Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner, who was left out to dry by a slow backcheck and a lost race to the puck. Skinner, who has had his ups and downs this postseason and whose play looked like the biggest question in the series, was hardly to blame for either one.

“Lots to like," McDavid said. “We didn’t give up too much, (but) what we did give up was dangerous.”

Edmonton controlled much of the game 5 on 5, extended its streak of penalties killed to 30, and its power play did just about everything right except score. Despite all that, the Oilers find themselves trailing in this core group led by McDavid and Leon Draisaitl’s first appearance in the final.

“We know that we're going to have to get even better,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “There are things we're going to have to look at and try to increase those chances.”

It’s a series featuring the furthest distance between teams meeting for the Cup, eclipsing the previous record set in 2011 by Boston and Vancouver. The trophy was brought out on to the ice prior to puck drop, similarly to what the league did by shining a spotlight on it in the empty stands in Edmonton four years ago when the playoffs went on in pandemic bubbles.

“Wasn’t really expecting that,” Rodrigues said of an NHL first of the Cup at ice level before the final for the first time since the 1960s. “That was a little bit of chills and a pretty cool moment. It was a pretty nice touch, I’m not going to lie.”

This was the polar opposite of that more recent eerily quiet scene from 2020, with a sellout crowd of 19,543 screaming fans juiced up for a fifth consecutive final featuring a team from the Florida. While 20 playoff games have been played in Canada over the past 20 seasons, this was the 22nd in the Sunshine State over that time.

Another is set for Monday when these teams return for Game 2.

“It’s a long series,” Bobrovsky said. "We’re going to reset, refocus and get ready for the next fight.”

OILERS BEAT CANUCKS 3-2 IN GAME 7 TO ADVANCE IN WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL

The Canadian Press via AP

 VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Edmonton Oilers are showing they have more scoring options than just Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist as Edmonton scored three times in the second period and held on to beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in Game 7 on Monday night to advance to the Western Conference final.

Zach Hyman and Cody Ceci also scored, and Evan Bouchard had two assists for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner finished with 15 saves.

“It takes every single guy in here,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “Definitely proud to get the job done with this group.”

Draisaitl leads all players in the playoffs with 24 points, McDavid has 21. and Bouchard leads all defensemen with 20 points. The Canucks held McDavid off the scoresheet for the third time in seven games, and limited Draisaitl to just one assist.

Edmonton, back in the conference finals for the second time in three years, will next face Dallas with Game 1 of that series on Thursday night.

Conor Garland and Filip Hronek scored in the third period for Vancouver, and Arturs Silovs had 26 saves.

After learning leading goal-scorer Brock Boeser was sidelined due to a reported blood-clotting issue, the Canucks were forced to juggle their forward lines on Monday. Sam Lafferty and Ilya Mikheyev drew in for Game 7 after a two-game absence, while Vasily Podkolzin was scratched.

Coaching in his first Stanley Cup playoffs, the Oilers’ Kris Knoblauch singled out Nugent-Hopkins and the bottom-six forwards for successfully killing off a four-minute penalty called on Ryan McLeod late in the first period.

“We played, I thought, really well,” Knoblauch said of his team’s first-period effort, when Edmonton outshot Vancouver 13-2. “That could be a turning point in the game, but our penalty kill, like it has been for almost all the playoffs, has been really solid.”

Silovs was the story of the first period, stopping all 13 shots he faced.

Ceci opened the scoring on his team’s first shot of the second period, with a slap shot from the right point that beat Silovs high to the glove side at 1:16. The Oilers then went on their first power play, and Hyman scored his playoff-leading 11th goal by tipping Bouchard's point shot to Silovs’ stick side at 5:20.

Nugent-Hopkins extended the lead to 3-0 with a sharp-angle shot with 4:38 left. It was Edmonton’s first power-play goal in three games.

The Canucks looked hard-pressed to create any dangerous scoring chances for the first 52 minutes, before an unassisted slot shot by Garland with 8:23 left in the third gave life to the team and its fans. Hronek got Vancouver to within one with 4:36 left to play, and the Canucks kept the pressure dialed up until the final buzzer.

“For the most part, I thought we played really well,” said Draisaitl, who famously declared 2023-24 to be a ‘Cup or Bust’ season after the Oilers were eliminated from the second round of the 2023 playoffs. “Would we like to keep it a little less stressful? Yes, probably.”

Vancouver was 0 for 3 on the power play, while Edmonton was 1 for 2. The Oilers went 20 for 23 on the penalty kill in the series.

After giving up one goal on 15 shots in his return to the net for Edmonton’s Game 6 win, Skinner faced just 17 shots in Game 7, and only five in the third period.

But that didn’t make it an easy night.

“They were able to make plays, but just weren’t able to get shots on net,” Skinner said. “I was working really hard, believe it or not. But I just didn’t get a ton of shots, which is a credit to the guys in front.”

The Oilers improved to 8-4 all time in Game 7s, while the Canucks fell to 6-7.

The Canucks were making their first playoff appearance in front of fans since 2015. Despite losing Vezina Trophy nominee Thatcher Demko to injury after the first game of the first round, the Canucks advanced for the first time since the 2020 playoff bubble.

After the game, Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet emphasized the strides that his group has taken since he stepped behind the bench in January 2023.

“They put respect back to that jersey and into this city,” he said. “Fans have got something to be proud of.”

OILERS CAPTAIN CONNOR MCDAVID BECOMES 4TH PLAYER IN NHL HISTORY TO RECORD 100 ASSISTS IN A SEASON

 EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid has achieved something only three other people in the NHL have ever done.

The Edmonton Oilers captain, who missed his team’s last three games with an undisclosed injury, recorded his 100th assist of the season in Monday’s game against the visiting San Jose Sharks.

Wayne Gretzky did it 11 times, while Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux each got there once.

McDavid hit the milestone with 4:25 left in the second period against the Sharks. The captain outwaited a sprawling Sharks defender before softly passing the puck to forward Zach Hyman, who buried his 54th goal of the season to make it 9-1 for Edmonton.

McDavid scored his 32nd goal of the season 53 seconds into the first period.