Will Lord Stanley return to South Florida again in 2026?
The Florida Panthers enter the 2025-26 NHL season looking to win a third straight Stanley Cup championship.
Each of Florida’s last two seasons ended in historic championships triumphs. In 2023-24, the Panthers outlasted the Edmonton Oilers in a seven-game Stanley Cup Final thriller to capture the franchise’s first title. The championship came just one year after Florida lost in the Cup Final.
Then, last season, the Panthers became just the 11th team in the expansion era (since the 1967-68 season) to go back-to-back, taking down the Oilers in six games in a rare Cup Final rematch.
Now, after retaining key free agents in Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand, the Panthers have their sights set on another historic championship. Although, their three-peat chances were dealt an early blow when captain Aleksander Barkov suffered a torn ACL and MCL in training camp.
The Florida Panthers clinched their second consecutive Stanley Cup after defeating the Oilers 5-1 in Game 6.
So, as the new NHL season begins, here’s a look at the history the Panthers are chasing:
Has an NHL team ever won three straight Stanley Cups?
The Panthers wouldn’t be the first team to win three straight Cups.
How many NHL teams have won three straight Stanley Cups?
But the feat has only been achieved twice in the expansion era.
Who was the last NHL team to win three straight Stanley Cups?
The only two instances of a team winning more than two straight Cups in the expansion era were both four-peats — and they happened consecutively.
The Montreal Canadiens first ripped off four straight championships from the 1976-79 Cup Finals, before the New York Islanders hoisted the next four Cups from 1980-83.
Among the other repeat champions, two made it back to the Cup Final but failed to complete the three-peat: the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1976 Cup Final and the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2022 Cup Final.
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