Florida Panthers return to Stanley Cup Finals, beat New York Rangers in 6 games

SUNRISE – A year ago, when the Florida Panthers won the Eastern Conference final to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, nearly every player touched the Prince of Wales Trophy during the postgame celebration.

On Saturday night, hardly any of the Panthers touched the Prince of Wales Trophy. Consider it a lesson learned 12 months after watching the Las Vegas players carry Lord Stanley’s trophy down the ice by defeating Florida in the finals.

The Panthers earned their second straight trip to the Stanley Cup Finals on Saturday night with a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Sam Bennett scored a one-timer off an Evan Rodrigues pass past Igor Shesterkin with 48.5 seconds left in the first period and Florida never lost the lead.

“Good defense, stingy play and timely goals,” Florida leading scorer Matthew Tkachuk said when asked how the Panthers stopped the Rangers. “We’ve worked really hard since training camp and we’re happy to be back. It was a tough loss last year, but we’re back.”

The Panthers, who fell to Las Vegas in five games in last year’s Stanley Cup Finals, now await the winner of the Western Conference Final, which Edmonton leads 3-2 over Dallas heading into Game 6 on Sunday. The Stanley Cup Finals begin June 8.

Vladimir Tarasenko gave the Panthers a two-goal cushion against the Rangers with 10:52 left in regulation, finishing off a cross-court pass from Anton Lundell to put the game out of New York’s reach.

Artemi Panarin pulled the Rangers within one goal with 1:39, shooting from the faceoff circle with Shesterkin pulled in for the extra attacker.

Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky did the rest, stopping 22 of 23 shots.

Here are three takeaways from the Panthers’ conference finals victory as they advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the third time in their history:

The Panthers play with their identity and shut down the Rangers

Coming into Saturday night’s Game 6, the message in the Panthers’ locker room was to quiet the noise and stick to their identity. And they did just that.

Florida played the same defensively structured game it has had all season, suffocating New York in the neutral zone and pressing hard up front. The Panthers limited the Rangers’ high-quality opportunities and played their style of hockey. They also stopped 14 of 15 penalty opportunities New York had during the series.

After earning a second trip to the Stanley Cup Final in as many years, it’s a proven formula that gets the job done.

Bennett returns with all his strength and better than ever

In the weeks following his return to the lineup from a hand injury, Bennett seemed limited. He wasn’t participating in matchups, he wasn’t as active offensively, but when he mattered most to the Panthers, he was back.

Bennett has looked like himself again. That was the case in Game 5 of the series, where he had a goal and an assist to help put the Panthers in position to win on Saturday night. And he did it again Saturday, relentlessly pressing up front, getting into passing lanes and finally putting Florida on the board with a slap bang explosion.

Bobrovsky shows flashes of brilliance with small bursts of action

When the Panthers needed him to be great, Bobrovsky did just that. Even when they didn’t need him to be there often.

High-quality scoring chances were few and far between, but Bobrovsky took a big step forward. His masterpiece was a great glove save he made on Jack Roslovic on a delayed penalty kick near the middle of the second period. Florida allowed just one shot and the power play and momentum immediately swung back in their favor.

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