Game 7: Reinhart gives Panthers 2-1 lead

The winner-take-all Stanley Cup final Game 7 between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers got off to a fast start.

The home side needed just 4:27 to ignite the crowd at Amerant Bank Arena courtesy of Carter Verhaeghe’s 11th of the playoffs. As an Oilers penalty expired, Evan Rodrigues threw the puck on net and Verhaeghe was there to deflect it between Stuart Skinner’s pads.

Florida’s lead lasted two minutes and 17 seconds.

A sensational saucer pass from Cody Ceci deep in his own zone landed right on the stick of Mattias Janmark, who made no mistake on the breakaway by beating Sergei Bobrovsky blocker side. It was Ceci’s first point of the Stanley Cup final.

The game stayed tied at 1-1 until there were less than five minutes left in the second period. After stretches of sustained pressure by the Oilers in the offensive zone, the Panthers’ Sam Reinhart moved up the ice on a fast break. The winger patiently held onto the puck as he weighed his options before firing past a partially screened Skinner short side.

The Panthers are 9-0 this postseason when they lead after two periods.