The Florida Panthers clearly didn’t give up in the Stanley Cup Finals. Despite falling two games behind in the final series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Paul Maurice’s men managed to overturn a deficit late in Game 3 of the series to finally have the last laugh on Thursday in overtime where they are formidable this spring.
In fact, the word “dreadful” should be replaced with “perfect” since the Panthers have won all seven of their overtime games this year, the last of which was 3-2. In 2002-2003, the Anaheim Ducks also won seven games in as many chances in overtime, but they could not win the top honors being capped in seven games by Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils.
The 2002 Carolina Hurricanes and the 2020 Tampa Bay Lightning also won seven games in overtime, but those two clubs weren’t perfect as they dropped two games in a tiebreaker.
The absolute record for overtime victories belongs to the last edition of the Montreal Canadiens who won the Stanley Cup in 1993 and whose 30th anniversary we celebrate today. Inspired by their coach Jacques Demers who had invited them to surprise the world, the Canadiens players won ten straight times in overtime to seek the 24th consecration in their history. Since then, the Stanley Cup has never ended up in the hands of a Canadian team.
The Canadiens needed 20 games to claim the top honors, but they weren’t perfect in overtime, having let a game slip away in a tiebreaker.
The Panthers also won their last ten playoff games in overtime, but over more than one season.
For sports betting enthusiasts, Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe are good choices to take the bet, they who totaled five of the Panthers’ seven game-winning goals in overtime. Three of Tkachuk’s eleven goals so far have come in overtime. He was also an accomplice on another decisive goal. As for Verhaeghe, two of his goals came in overtime. He also had an overtime assist.
In the first round, the Panthers, who came from a 1-3 deficit to the Boston Bruins, needed two overtime wins to reach the second round, including in the seventh and final game when Verhaeghe scored the goal that made the difference at 8:35 in a 4-3 win.
In Game 5, Tkachuk had given a 4-3 victory in overtime at 6:05 on a pass from Verhaeghe.
In the second round, the series against the Toronto Maple Leafs also required two games in overtime, including the fifth game, which sounded the death knell for the Ontario team following a goal by Nick Cousins. In the third game, it was Sam Reinhart who scored the goal that made the difference.
In the conference final, which the Panthers swept against the Hurricanes, the Panthers also won the first two games in overtime, including the first game which required four overtime periods. It was Tkachuk who had put an end to the marathon. In the second game, Tkachuk was again the hero with the winning goal, still in overtime.
The Panthers are down 2-1 in this series and will look to tie the series with a second win in Game 4 on Saturday, hoping to become the sixth team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup after losing the first two games of their series. The last team to do so was the Bruins in 2011. As for the Maple Leafs, they managed the feat of overcoming a three-game deficit in 1942 to win the silver chalice.
