Nerves, frustration and just a bit of Game 7 excitement at Panthers’ Game 6 watch party

Moments of joy have been fleeting inside Amerant Bank Arena for most of the last week. There was the moment when the Florida Panthers finally got on the board in the first period Game 4 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final on Saturday, and the moment when Matthew Tkachuk scored in the second period of Game 5 on Tuesday and it looked like the Panthers might just rally from three goals down to beat the Edmonton Oilers and win their first championship.

On Friday, the moment of joy was even more shortly lived for those who flocked to Florida’s home arena to watch Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in Sunrise. Not even a minute had passed since the Oilers scored to take a two-goal lead in the second period in Edmonton when Aleksander Barkov seemingly halved the Oilers’ lead with a second-effort goal. Quickly, the roars died down, though: Edmonton challenged the goal for offside and won.

Florida’s best shot at staging a comeback in Canada to win their first Stanley Cup was gone. The Panthers lost 5-1 and are now coming back to South Florida to host the Oilers in Game 7 on Monday with the series tied 3-3, trying not to become only the second team in history to blow a 3-0 series lead in the Cup Final.

“It’s kind of very despondent,” said Monty Pike, 64, of Lighthouse Point, toting his “lucky Chucky” doll as he walked out of the arena. “After winning three games and now we’re tied on this and it’s going to a Game 7, it’s kind of disappointing.

“I feel like maybe they should hand out Prozac on the way out.”

By the time Barkov actually scored in the third period to cut Edmonton’s lead to 3-1 and give the Panthers a little bit of badly needed life in Alberta, the already modest crowd in Florida had thinned out, with more than a handful of spectators leaving their seats after star winger Zach Hyman scored with 1:20 left in the third period to give the Oilers a 3-0 lead. After Edmonton hit the empty net to go up 4-1 with 3:15 left, fans flooded for the exists.

Maybe more expensive tickets kept fans at home. Maybe they were too nervous to watch this increasingly angst-inducing Final around other people. Maybe consecutive losses with a chance to win a title, and the growing prospect of a near-unprecedented collapse, quelled a little bit of the areas Panthers fever. Whatever the reason, Florida’s watch party on Friday never felt like much of a party.

“I kind of thought we had it pretty much in the bag and it just hasn’t happened,” said Pike, who shares seats with season-ticket holder Jim Long, who has had his seats since the inaugural season. “I guess we can do it at home.”

Monday will bring decidedly mixed emotions back to this building. Florida will again have a chance to win the Cup—and in a Game 7, no less—and also may well complete one of the worst collapses in major sports history.

As much as the frustration about the last three games was obvious, so too was the excitement about the prospect of a Game 7. While most of the fans walked to the exit with heads down or palms covering faces, a group of boys hauled around a tinfoil Stanley Cup, lifting it up high as if they were ready to start celebrating already. Another group of fans still chanted, “Let’s go Panthers!” Every once in a while, someone would shout out, “Game 7!”

“I’ll be here Monday,” said Sandres Michael, 32, of Miramar. “My wife got me tickets. I love you, baby. Thank you for that. Happy anniversary.

“I’m excited as [expletive]. She told me Game 7’s coming. I didn’t believe her. She’s a witch, but here I am.”