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 did not. 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.
Photo: Jim Rassol-USA Today
“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 are to face either the Edmonton Oilers or the Dallas Stars for the Cup, that series set to start on June 8.
Artemi Panarin scored with one minute, 40 seconds 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.”
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
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