Panthers Claim the Stanley Cup Again While New York Baseball is Futile

How about those Florida Panthers? They crushed the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to claim the Cup for the second straight year. They’re the first back-to-back champs since the Tampa Bay Lightning won in 2020 and 2021. Okay, that wasn’t so long ago, but the more important stat is that a Canadian team hasn’t held the Cup since 1993. Shoutout to my Rangers for starting the streak of American victories by defeating the Canucks in the 1994 Final. I don’t feel so bad about losing the 4 Nations Face-Off anymore.

Sam Reinhart scored four goals in the clinching game (with the last two coming with an empty net) and Sergei Bobrovsky didn’t allow a goal until the championship was in hand with five minutes to play. Still, it was Sam Bennett who won the Conn Smythe Trophy with 15 goals and seven assists in the Playoffs.

The Panthers’ victory opens up two big story lines for next season. First, can Florida become the first NHL three-peat since the Oilers dynasty in the 1980s? And second, will Connor McDavid ever win the Stanley Cup? McDavid is the best player in the game today, but after falling short of immortality for the second year in a row, every hockey fan will be focused on his quest for glory going forward.

On the diamond, the Mets and Yankees continued to struggle. The Yankees finally broke a ridiculous 30-inning scoreless streak when Jazz Chisholm homered off of Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz in the second inning. The Bombers even took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Cody Bellinger hit a solo shot of his own. However, an inexplicable error by Anthony Volpe in the eighth turned an inning-ending double play into a game-winning RBI for Jo Adell.

The Mets also played boneheaded defense in their 5-0 loss at Atlanta. One night after Francisco Alvarez cost the Mets a chance to escape the 10th inning when he threw to the wrong base with Luke Williams stuck in a pickle, New York’s other catcher Luis Torrens fielded a foul ball with his mask (that’s illegal) to score one run for Atlanta and set up another to score on Marcell Ozuna’s sac fly. The only silver lining is that the Mets didn’t cross the plate for the second time in three games, so Torrens’ error didn’t matter very much.

I don’t think anyone is cursing their defense more than Arkansas fans, though. The Hogs led 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth thanks to Justin Thomas Jr.’s two-RBI single in the top of the frame. LSU put two runners on in their half before Steven Milam hit a hard ground ball to shortstop. It looked like Wehiwa Aloy had a chance to start a game-ending double play, but he chose to get the force out at third instead even though the tying run was coming from first base. The next batter Luis Hernandez hit a line drive to left field that Charles Davalan was in position to catch before he slipped and fell, allowing both runners to score. To cap it off, the walk-off single hit by Jared Jones  bounced off the glove of Cam Kozeal, the Arkansas second baseman who grew up in Omaha dreaming of playing in the College World Series. Pour one out for the Razorbacks because that is a heartbreaking way to lose a ballgame.

LSU’s comeback win means it is headed to the CWS championship series vs. Coastal Carolina while Arkansas is eliminated. The Chanticleers punched their ticket with an 11-3 stomping of Louisville on Wednesday afternoon.

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