History is on Panthers’ side with 2-0 Stanley Cup Final lead, but team staying in the moment
Even with a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final, the Florida Panthers know the value of keeping with the one-game-at-a-time mentality that got them to this point as the series shifts to the road.
After winning the first two games of the best-of-7 series against the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Saturday and 4-1 on Monday, Game 3 is at 8 p.m. ET Thursday at Rogers Place.
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“It’s important in the playoffs to just turn the page,” said Panthers forward Vladimir Tarasenko, one of two players on Florida’s roster to have won a Stanley Cup. “It’s going to be loud there, and we’ll be ready for it.”
The Panthers also have history on their side as they get within two games of hoisting the Cup for the first time in franchise history.
This is the fourth consecutive season that a team has taken a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final. All three of the previous teams — the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 (against Florida), Colorado Avalanche in 2022 (against the Tampa Bay Lightning) and Lightning in 2021 (against the Montreal Canadiens) — won the Cup.
But let’s go farther than that.
Only six times in NHL history — and only twice in 10 attempts since 2009 — has a team worked its way back from a 2-0 series deficit and won the Stanley Cup. The Boston Bruins overcame series deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 to beat the Vancouver Canucks in seven games in 2011. And the Pittsburgh Penguins overcame also rallied back from being down 2-0 and 3-2 to beat the Detroit Red Wings in seven games in 2009.
Before those two, the most recent instance of a team rallying back from a 2-0 deficit to win the Stanley Cup was the Canadiens in 1971.