It took 30 years for the Florida Panthers to win their first Stanley Cup.

For Paul Maurice, the wait was nearly as long.

Sam Reinhart's tie-breaking goal late in the second period held up as the Panthers captured the NHL's most coveted trophy for the first time with Monday's 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of a memorable Stanley Cup Final.

Carter Verhaeghe also had a goal and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots - including all nine he faced in the third period - to also give Maurice his first Stanley Cup after nearly 2,000 combined regular-season and play-off games as a head coach.

Maurice is in his 26th season leading an NHL team, the longest wait of any head coach in the four major North American professional sports leagues before winning his first championship.

More than 28 years after taking his first @NHL head coaching job, Paul Maurice is a #StanleyCup champion for the first time.

His total games (1,985) and regular-season games (1,848) are both the most ever by a coach before his first Cup. #NHLStats: https://t.co/LO090DD4jo pic.twitter.com/CLDSGJ4qHB

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 25, 2024

While Maurice and the Panthers' long streaks came to an end, another continues as the Oilers' loss marks the 31st consecutive year a Canadian team has not hoisted the Cup since the Montreal Canadiens' win in 1993.

Edmonton were also bidding to become only the second team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup after losing the first three games of the best-of-seven Final, a feat the Toronto Maple Leafs accomplished in 1942.

Oilers captain Connor McDavid still took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the play-offs after setting an NHL post-season record with 34 assists and compiling 42 points. The superstar centre is just the second skater on a losing team to win the award, joining the Philadelphia Flyers' Reggie Leach in 1976.

Connor McDavid was named the 2024 Conn Smythe Trophy winner after breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record for assists in a playoff year and becoming the third player in NHL history with 40+ points in a postseason.#NHLStats: https://t.co/ZXfBjt4xnx #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/7JbR2Xptpu

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) June 25, 2024

McDavid recorded a pair of four-point outings in Games 4 and 5 to help Edmonton extend the series, but the three-time Hart Trophy recipient was kept off the scoresheet by a stout Florida defensive effort for a second straight game in Monday's finale.

Reinhart finished second in the NHL with 57 goals during the regular season, but the All-Star wing entered Game 7 with just one over his previous eight play-off contests.

He ended that drought with 4:49 remaining in the second period by skating up the right side and firing a shot past a screened Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner to give Florida a 2-1 lead. The goal came just seconds after Bobrovsky thwarted a close-range chance by the Oilers' Warren Foegele. 

Edmonton failed to come up with the equaliser despite a 9-4 shot advantage in the third period as the Panthers clinched their first title in their third appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. Florida came up three wins short last season after being ousted in five games by the Vegas Golden Knights.

Both teams recorded goals during the game's early stages, with Verhaeghe putting Florida up 1-0 by redirecting a wrist shot from teammate Evan Rodrigues past Skinner 4:27 in.

Edmonton answered just 2:17 later, however, as Mattias Janmark slipped behind the Florida defence and took an outlet pass from Cody Ceci before beating Bobrovsky on a breakaway.

Skinner finished with 19 saves for the Oilers.