Florida Panthers Have Good Vibes Going with Stanley Cup at Stake

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers are a win away from celebrating another Stanley Cup championship but, again, you would not know that from walking through their room on Tuesday morning.

Yes, there were a lot of laughs and a lot of smiles.

But that is typical of the Panthers whether they are coming off a win, just lost, or are playing for the biggest prize in their sport.

Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Panthers and Edmonton Oilers is tonight at 8 in Sunrise.

“Another day in paradise,’’ Nate Schmidt said with a wide grin.

Schmidt is one of a handful of Panthers who have not won the Stanley Cup in the past. When he signed with the Panthers in July, he said his only goal was to help this team win it all again.

So, how was he feeling come Wednesday morning?

“I’m doing pretty good, thank you,’’ he said. “My son woke up early this morning, but other than that, doing great.

“This is the reason why you come down here. This is the reason why you play. You get a chance to be in a situation like this. It’s what you dream of. I think that our guys over the last couple days are doing really well. I love our energy this morning. I’m excited for tonight.”

Paul Maurice has often said his team has handled the highs and lows of a playoff run extremely well and their experience over the past three years has certainly helped.

Florida is in the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year and experience, certainly, is on their side.

“We’ve had some enormous wins here in the last three years, and really difficult, heartbreaking losses at the same time,’’ Maurice said. “In the end, you figure out a way to round the edges off those that you don’t get too excited, and those are all cliche things, but a very high pressure environment for two teams. It’s a two-month long process, and it takes, I think, a while to learn how to manage that.

“I don’t think it can be managed particularly well at the start. You have to learn how to do it. You have to suffer that defeat, and you’ve got to come off that win that is so exciting for you, except there’s another game two days from now. So there’s no point in getting all that excited. Handling that, I think living through it helps.”

Maurice was asked what it felt like to wake up this morning knowing he had a chance to win the Stanley Cup tonight.

It is not hard to see where his team gets its vibe from.

“I think you asked me that four times last year,’’ Maurice said with a grin.

“Yeah, it feels just fine. Thank you.”

2025 STANLEY CUP FINAL

GAME 6

EDMONTON OILERS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS 

Panthers Lead Best-of-7 Series 3-2

• When: Tuesday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• National TV: TNT/truTV 
• National Streaming: Max
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys), SiriusXM
• Radio Streaming: SiriusXM, NHL App
• Series Schedule (all games at 8 p.m., TNT) — Game 1: @Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT); Game 2: Florida 5, @Edmonton 4 (2OT); Game 3: @Florida 6, Edmonton 1; Game 4: Edmonton 5, @Florida 4 (OT); Game 5: Florida 5, @Edmonton 2; Game 6: @Florida Tuesday; Game 7*: @Edmonton Friday.
• How They Got Here: Edmonton d. Los Angeles (6), Vegas (5), Dallas (5); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7), Carolina (5)
• Postseason History: Florida Won 2024 Stanley Cup Final 4-3
• Regular Season: Panthers won 2-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-18-0, 3 ties