SUNRISE, Fla.—The Prince of Wales Trophy was carried onto the ice when time expired, as an arena filled with Florida Panthers fans roared in delight and dozens of players and staffers rushed over to pose with the prize.
Last year, the Panthers defied tradition and touched the trophy.
This year, they didn’t. The message was clear. The Stanley Cup is the only one they want.
For the second straight year, they have a chance at hockey’s greatest prize. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots, Sam Bennett and Vladimir Tarasenko scored, and the Florida Panthers are headed to the Stanley Cup Final once again after beating the New York Rangers 2–1 on Saturday night, June 1.
“We touched it last year and it didn’t work for us,” Bennett said of ignoring the trophy, the one presented to the Eastern Conference champions. “So, we thought we'd try something different this year.”
The Panthers—who lost the Cup final to Vegas last year—won the East title series in six games. Florida will face either Edmonton or Dallas for the Cup, that series set to start on June 8.
Artemi Panarin scored with 1:40 left and Igor Shesterkin stopped 32 shots for the Rangers, who had a 2–1 lead in the series—then lost three straight, costing them their season.
It was New York’s longest losing streak since mid-January and means that, for the 11th consecutive year, the team that finishes with the NHL’s best regular season record won’t go on to win the Stanley Cup.
“Listen, our guys fought this year,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “They bought in right from the start. It’s disappointing; when you start something like this you don’t do it to get three wins in the playoffs or five wins in the playoffs. You do it to go the whole way.”
If Edmonton—which leads the West final 3–2—advances, Game 1 of the title round will be on Florida’s ice.
