Sam Reinhart never saw his father, Paul Reinhart, play in the NHL. Paul had retired from hockey at the age of thirty. Sam was born five years later in 1995. However, the car rides he had with his dad, and sometimes his entire family, during his formative years taught him hockey lessons that he still carries with himself. “Those are some of my best memories. Just kind of breaking down the game, some positive, some not so positive. But the messaging was always clear, it was always constructive,” Reinhart recalled back in May. Perhaps, if things were any different, Reinhart wouldn’t have done what he did tonight.

Less than five minutes into Game 6, Sam Reinhart sniffed out an opportunity and made sure to capitalize on it. As Evan Bouchard fumbled an ill-advised pass from Mattias Ekholm right outside the Oilers’ zone, Reinhart stole the puck, skated past Bouchard, and around Ekholm to score the opener for the Florida Panthers. Later, with 47 seconds left in the period, Matthew Tkachuk took the lead to 2-0. That would prove to be enough for his team, as the Oilers would only score one goal. However, it was not enough for Reinhart, who made it 3-0 at 17:31 of the second period, forcing Kris Knoblauch to take a tough call.

“Stuart Skinner is out of the net with seven minutes left and the Oilers down 3-0,” Daniel Nugent Bowman posted of The Athletic posted on X. Kris Knoblauch had no choice but to go all out with an extra skater. He was desperate. Unfortunately for him, the move only added insult to injury, as Sam Reinhart made the most of the Oilers’ empty-net situation to score back-to-back goals on top of the two he had already netted. With that, he led the Panthers to their second Stanley Cup. With that, the Oilers’ wait for the Stanley Cup spilled over to another year. And once again, one of the main reasons why they found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard was their goaltending.

Throughout the series, Knoblauch brought in and replaced both Skinner and Calvin Pickard many times. “It’s not an easy decision,” is what Kris Knoblauch had to say when he was asked about who his starting goalie for Game 6 would be. While Skinner, who got the nod ahead of Pickard, could be excused for the first two goals that he let in, his mistake in the second period was what directly led to Reinhart scoring his third goal.

With just under three minutes left in the second period, Carter Verhaeghe took a wrist shot that was stopped by Skinner. But instead of catching the puck, giving Florida Captain Aleksander Barkov the opportunity to send the puck across the face of the goal, on to Reinhart’s leg, and finally into the netting. What’s more? Reinhart’s goal barrage brought him more than his second Stanley Cup.

Sam Reinhart etches his name into NHL history

Sam Reinhart’s third goal of the night marked the Florida Panthers’ first postseason hat-trick, and the first one in Game 6 of a Stanley Cup Final since 1973. And with his fourth, he became only the sixth player in league history and the first since Maurice Richard in 1957 to get that many in a game in the final. And if you think that’s it, then wait. Because there’s another layer to that record.

Sam Reinhart is now also the first player in over a century—yes, since 1922—to score four goals in a Stanley Cup Final clinching game since Babe Dye of the Toronto St. Patricks scored this many against the Vancouver Millionaires. Wait, there’s more. Because his four goals were louder than the buzz in the Arena. Interestingly, even Reinhart’s first goal got the Panthers into the record books as just the fourth team in the NHL to score first in five straight games during a Stanley Cup Final series. Yes, it was that kind of a night.

“This is the best,” Reinhart said, on the verge of happy tears. “Nothing beats this.” Last year, he couldn’t be part of the Panthers’ Stanley Cup parade because he had made a commitment to attend a friend’s wedding. This year, he is going to make sure he is there: “I’m not going to miss this one. I’ll guarantee you that,” said, per NHL.com.