It has now been 31 years since a Canadian team has lifted the Stanley Cup as the Edmonton Oilers fell to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night.

The Panthers got out to a 1-0 lead, thanks to an opening-frame goal from Carter Verhaeghe.

The Panthers' lead did not last long as just moments later, Mattias Janmark responded for the Oilers to knot the game up one goal apiece.

The two teams played a closely contested second period before Sam Reinhart broke the stalemate by redirecting a shot from Verhaeghe, beating Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner.

Skinner finished with 19 saves in the loss.

At the other end of the ice, Sergei Bobrovsky countered with 23 saves for the Panthers, and his addition of a Stanley Cup to his resume on Monday night bolstered his case for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Before Lord Stanley was lifted for his parade around Amerant Bank Arena, Oilers captain Connor McDavid became the sixth player to win Conn Smythe after losing the Stanley Cup. McDavid, who logged 25:42 minutes of ice time in the 2-1 loss, did not join NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on the ice.

The 27-year-old McDavid led all players with 42 points (eight goals, 34 assists) in the playoffs.

While it was heartbreak for the Oilers in the locker room, coming shy of the first reverse sweep in a Cup Final since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, it was jubilation on the ice for the Panthers.

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice was at a loss for words once the horn sounded off and he was anointed a champion.

"It's just brilliant," he told Sportsnet's Kyle Bukauskas. "I've never hugged so many sweaty men before in my entire life - and I'm not sure if I'm going to do it again," he joked.

"It's not what I thought it would be. It's so much better," the 57-year-old from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., added.

Taking a moment to thank all his family members for their continued support, Maurice looked into the camera and talked to his father.

"Dad," he started. "Your name is going up with your heroes: Jean Béliveau, Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsey. Now, Maurice."

Emotions continued to run rampant for the Panthers as Aaron Ekblad admitted his emotions ran high saying, "I just stopped crying a few minutes ago like a little baby."

Still reeling in the sting of defeat, McDavid reflected on the series.

"We went through a lot," McDavid said. "Ups and downs. Came that close."

"(I'm) proud of the way we fought all year. We were behind the eight-ball almost immediately and we fought an uphill climb for months and months and months."

With the Oilers' loss, the 1993 Montreal Canadiens remain the last Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup.