For the fifth straight year, the Stanley Cup finals will have a Floridian flavor.
The Florida Panthers downed the New York Rangers 2–1 Saturday evening in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals to win the series. With the victory, the Panthers won their third conference championship and second in as many years.
Previous Florida trips to the Stanley Cup finals include 1996, when the third-year franchise was swept by the Colorado Avalanche, and 2023, when the team lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.
To best the Rangers Saturday, the Panthers overcame a Herculean effort from New York goalie Igor Shesterkin. Center Sam Bennett staked Florida to a 1–0 lead at 19:10 of the first period, and right wing Vladimir Tarasenko added a second nine minutes into the third.
The Rangers opened their account with left wing Artemi Panarin’s goal at 18:20 of the third period, but it was too little too late for New York’s best team by points percentage since 1972.
The Panthers will meet either the Dallas Stars or Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup finals; the Oilers lead their series three games to two with Game 6 scheduled for Sunday evening.
The Dallas Stars completed their series comeback Sunday, defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 2–1 in Game 7 at American Airlines Center to claim their first-round playoff series and advance to the Western Conference semifinals.
Stars center Radek Faksa, who missed the previous four games with an undisclosed injury, broke a 1–1 tie in the opening minute of the third period. He sent a backhander from the circle past Vegas goaltender Adin Hill for what ended up being the series-clinching goal.
For Faksa, that goal meant two things: The Stars were advancing, and he made good on a promise to his 2-year-old son Elliot.
"After every pregame skate, I play [mini-stick hockey] with my son, and I promised him I would score a goal tonight," Faksa said on the TNT postgame show. "I'm glad I did.
"I'm so excited to show him video of the goal in the morning."
Radek Faksa promised his son that he'd score in Game 7...
It marked Faksa's ninth career playoff goal and his first in the series.
"It was a huge relief, you know," Faksa said. "It was the biggest goal of my career."
Faksa and the Stars will face the Colorado Avalanche in the next round, a team that defeated the Winnipeg Jets in five games to cruise through the first round.
The Dallas Stars’ quest for the Stanley Cup lost some steam on Friday night after a gutting 3–1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.
The Stars’ disappointing performance at American Airlines Center drew plenty of questions for coach Pete DeBoer in the postgame conference, including one from The Dallas Morning News’ Tim Cowlishaw that elicited quite the heated response.
“As much as you’re praising the Oilers, did you not think it was kind of a lifeless second period for your team?” Cowlishaw asked. “After falling behind and just kind of putting no pressure on them at all …”
DeBoer voiced his irritation at the question and adamantly defended his team’s character.
“Listen, there’s always things you can do better,” DeBoer said. “You know, you can sit here and question our character if you want. You haven’t been around all year. I haven’t seen you here all year … So, you know what, I’m not gonna do it. You go ahead and write whatever the f--- you want.”
"Write whatever the f*** you want" | Dallas Stars Pete DeBoer did NOT appreciate DMN columnist Tim Cowlishaw's question 😲
The Oilers were able to extend their lead in the second period of Game 5 thanks to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’s strike during a power play and defenseman Philip Broberg’s sniper shot four minutes later.
The Stars, lacking sustained offensive pressure early in the game, answered with a late consolation goal but ultimately ate their third loss of the series, a monumental setback in their bid for a second Stanley Cup.
Down 3-2 in the series and on the brink of elimination, the Stars will travel to Edmonton for Game 6 on Sunday.
The Dallas Stars have been a postseason mainstay over the last six years, reaching the NHL playoffs in five of those seasons. During that span, however, they've been unsuccessful in winning the Stanley Cup, despite making an appearance in the Final in 2020.
They're hopeful of changing those fortunes this season. Currently embroiled in a Western Conference Final tilt against the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas is looking to make it back to the Stanley Cup Final and win what would be just the second title in franchise history, dating back to their time as the Minnesota North Stars.
Let's take a look back at the Stars' championship season, as well as their appearances in the Stanley Cup Final throughout history.
GAME
RESULT
Game 1
Sabres 3, Stars 2 (OT)
Game 2
Stars 4, Sabres 2
Game 3
Stars 2, Sabres 1
Game 4
Sabres 2, Stars 1
Game 5
Stars 2, Sabres 0
Game 6
Stars 2, Sabres 0 (3OT)
The lone championship in Stars history came 25 years ago during the 1998–99 season, when they defeated the Buffalo Sabres in the Stanley Cup Final. They won the series in six games, which featured a legendary triple overtime thriller in the closeout Game 6 that saw Hall of Fame right winger Brett Hull seal the deal with the game-winning goal after nearly two full hours of game time.
It's one of the most iconic moments in franchise history. That Dallas team was loaded, with five players who would eventually reach the Hall of Fame, including Hull, Mike Modano, Joe Nieuwendyk, Sergei Zubov and Guy Carbonneau.
Although they've only won one Stanley Cup, the Stars have made five total trips to the Finals. The first came back in 1981, back when the team was still playing out of Minnesota. Then the North Stars, the team was defeated by the New York Islanders in a five-game series.
They returned to the Stanley Cup Final a decade later, despite finishing fourth in their division with a 27–39–14 record. The team made a stunning postseason run before being bested in six games at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Their next trip to the Stanley Cup Final was in 1999, when they won against the Sabres. The team made another Stanley Cup Final run in 2000, but were defeated in a six-game set against the New Jersey Devils.
Dallas's last and most recent run to the championship came in 2020, when they were defeated in six games by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Much of that team, including the likes of Tyler Seguin, Joe Pavelski, Jamie Benn, Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen, among many others, remain on the roster in 2024, eager to finish the job they fell just short of four years ago.
