“I need one,” he’d said of what a Cup would mean to him.

His Panthers rose up when they had no other choice but the shamed alternative.

Florida parlayed a strong second period into a 2-1 lead.

A hard-earned penalty kill included a couple of saves by Sergei Bobrovsky.

Then Sam Reinhart scored on a wrist shot off assists by Carter Verhaeghe and Dmitry Kuliov. It was only Reinhart’s second goal of the Final after a team-leading 57 in the regular season.

Florida first lit the lamp and an already-lit home crowd 4:37 into the game on a Verhaeghe tip-in goal off assists by Evan Rodrigues and Matthew Tkachuk. Verhaeghe hadn’t scored since Game 1 of the Final, so the horn sounding for his shot was welcome, indeed.

The crowd, begging for an early lead, was euphoric. It wouldn’t last. Well, it did for about two minutes.

Edmonton tied it 1-1 at 6:44 on a Mattias Janmark wrist-shot goal. The reaction was a bit jarring. Save for no horn, Oilers fans made big noise. Obviously, many, many Panthers fans opted for a profit on the ticket after-market over supporting their team in a Game 7. (Y’all know who you are. And sad of you.)

The third period was a matter of hanging. The tension in the building was nerve-wracking. There should have been a cardiologist on-call in every section.

This was the 18th Game 7 all time in local sports and the 12th at home — but only the third ultimate Game 7 (all at home) with championship-or-bust stakes. It follows the Marlins’ 1997 World Series win and the Heat’s 2013 NBA Finals clincher.

This one is bigger than those other two. The Marlins were in only their fifth season, their fans hardly long suffering. The Heat had won two previous league titles.

This also was the NHL’s 18th all-time Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final. The home team was 12-2 before losing three in a row, most recently in 2019.

The Panthers were the betting favorite to continue that streak — the slight betting underdog Monday to the mighty McDavid despite being at home.

But it was the Florida Panthers who raised the only trophy that mattered.

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