The 2023-24 National Hockey League season has come to an end.
Contested between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers, the Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 series lead, just for Edmonton to win the next three games, only the third time that’s been done in Stanley Cup Final history, and the first time since 1945.
Well, that set up the winner-takes-all Game 7 in Sunrise, Florida. Shortly after the game’s first power play ended, Carter Verhaeghe deflected Evan Rodrigues’ shot in for the opening goal. However, that lead didn’t stick for long as Mattias Janmark buried a breakaway, tying the game heading into the first intermission.
The third and final goal of the game came late in the second period, as the Oilers allowed the Panthers in uncontested, with Sam Reinhart beating Stuart Skinner for the Stanley Cup clinching goal.
With that being said, the Oilers had their chances, but ended up falling short, losing the game 2-1, with the Panthers winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
In a post-game interview with Sportsnet, former Calgary Flame Matthew Tkachuk had this to say:
“Shoutout to all my fans in Calgary, you know I couldn’t let Edmonton win.”
The Oilers had a chance to draft Tkachuk in the 2016 draft, as they had the fourth-overall pick. However, they elected to draft Jesse Puljujärvi, while Tkachuk fell to the Flames with the sixth-overall pick.
Tkachuk spent six seasons with the Flames, scoring 152 goals and 382 points in 431 games, helping lead the team to the top spot in the Pacific Division during the 2021-22 season. That off-season, he was traded to the Panthers in a sign-and-trade, with the Flames acquiring a 2025 first-round pick, Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, and Cole Schwindt.
The season prior, the Flames traded Sam Bennett to the Panthers in exchange for Emil Heineman and a 2022 2nd round pick, who ended up being David Goyette. He, along with Tkachuk and Ryan Lomberg, are the three former Flames who won the 2024 Stanley Cup.
With that being said, the 2023-24 season is in the books, and the first event of the off-season, the 2024 draft, takes place this Friday.
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.
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