The 2024 Stanley Cup Finals begin on Saturday with the Florida Panthers facing the Edmonton Oilers from Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, which is part of the Miami Metropolitan area. During the regular season, the Panthers had a lot of success against the Oilers. On November 20, the Panthers defeated the Oilers 5-3 in south Florida. Then on December 16, the Panthers beat the Oilers 5-1 in the Alberta capital.
Florida’s 5-3 win over the Oilers
The Panthers improved to a record of 12 wins, five regulation losses and one loss in extra time. Defenseman Niko Mikkola of Kiiminki, Finland scored twice. Interestingly, Mikkola only had three goals the entire regular season. The other regular season goal came in a 4-3 Panthers win over the New Jersey Devils on October 16. Mikkola also scored one goal for the Panthers in the playoffs. That came from centers Anton Lundell of Espoo, Finland and Eetu Luostarinen of Siilinjarvi, Finland in an all-Finnish goal in game five of the first round, a 6-1 Panthers win over the Tampa Bay Lightning to close out the series. It was also the first multi-goal game of Mikkola’s career.
The other three Panthers players who scored for the Panthers in their home win over the Oilers were Carter Verhaeghe of Toronto, Ontario, Kevin Stenlund of Huddinge, Sweden, and Sam Bennett of Holland Landing, Ontario. In addition to Mikkola, three Panthers players had a multi-point game. Stenlund had one goal and two assists for three points, and Verhaeghe had one goal and one assist for two points.
Florida’s 5-1 win over the Oilers
Two Panthers players had three point games. Verhaeghe had two goals and one assist, and Bennett had one goal and two assists. Two other Panthers defensemen had a multi-point game. Brandon Montour of Brantford, Ontario had one goal and one assist, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson of Karlskrona, Sweden had two assists. The other Panthers goal scorer was captain Aleksander Barkov of Tampere, Finland.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
