John Vanbiesbrouck of the ’93-’94 Panthers was unbeatable in Game 7 as they continued their upset-driven run in the 2015 Florida Panthers Qualifying Tournament. (via pinterest.com)

Game 1 was the first of two overtime games in this series. Scott Mellanby scored for the top-seeded ’95-’96 Panthers to tie the game 1-1 in the third period. Then, late in overtime, Ray Sheppard scored on the PP to give the ’95-’96 Panthers a 2-1 win. They would not need overtime in Game 2 as they scored four goals in the first period and went on to win 5-1 for a 2-0 series lead. John Vanbiesbrouck stopped 30 of 31 shots against for the ’95-’96 Panthers in the win. The 5th-seeded ’93-’94 Panthers held a 2-1 lead in the second of Game 3 when Johan Garpenlov scored to tie the game for the ’95-’96 Panthers. Then, seven and a half minutes into the third, Stu Barnes scored for the ’93-’94 Panthers to give them a 3-2 lead and they held on for their first win of the series. The ’93-’94 Panthers exploded for five goals in the first period of Game 4 with Andrei Lomakin netting a hat trick in that opening period. They went on to win 7-3 as Scott Mellanby tallied four assists to help lead the way offensively with Lomakin.

Game 5 was a long one. In the second period, Mellanby scored with just over five minutes left in the period to give the ’93-’94 Panthers a 4-2 lead. However, Barnes scored in the final minute to get the ’95-’96 Panthers within one. Then, they scored two goals in 10 minutes to flip the scoreboard and take a 5-4 lead. However, three plus minutes after they took the lead, defenseman Gord Murphy scored for the ’93-’94 Panthers to re-tie the game. There would not be another goal until 14 seconds into the THIRD overtime when Garpenlov scored to give the ’95-’96 Panthers a 3-2 series win. The two teams combined for 159 shots on goal. Vanbiesbrouck, the starter in net for both teams, stopped 70 of 76 for the ’93-’94 Panthers in the loss and stopped 78 of 83 for the ’95-’96 Panthers in the win. The ’93-’94 Panthers then outscored the ’95-’96 Panthers 14-3 combined in Game’s 6 and 7. They forced a seventh game with a 8-3 win in Game 6 and then won Game 7 by a final of 6-0. 

GAME 1:

GAME SUMMARY:  ’95-’96 FLA – 2   ’93-’94 FLA – 1   (OT)   (1-0   ’95-’96 FLA)

STARS OF THE GAME:

1st Star: G – John Vanbiesbrouck (’95-’96 FLA) – W   1.00 GAA   .975 SV% (39 SV’s)

2nd Star: G – John Vanbiesbrouck (’93-’94 FLA) – OTL   2.00 GAA   .968 SV% (61 SV’s)

3rd Star: LW – Andrei Lomakin (’93-’94 FLA) – 1 G   0 A   1 P   +1   8 S

GAME 2:

GAME SUMMARY:  ’95-’96 FLA – 5   ’93-’94 FLA – 1   (2-0   ’95-’96 FLA)

STARS OF THE GAME:

1st Star: G – John Vanbiesbrouck (’95-’96 FLA) – W   1.00 GAA   .968 SV% (30 SV’s)

2nd Star: RW – Ray Sheppard (’95-’96 FLA) – 1 G   1 A   2 P   +1   1 S

3rd Star: RW – Scott Mellanby (’95-’96 FLA) – 0 G   2 A   2 P   +2   3 S

GAME 3:

GAME SUMMARY:  ’93-’94 FLA – 3   ’95-’96 FLA – 2   (2-1   ’95-’96 FLA)

STARS OF THE GAME:

1st Star: G – John Vanbiesbrouck (’93-’94 FLA) – W   2.00 GAA   .952 SV% (40 SV’s)

2nd Star: LW – Johan Garpenlov (’95-’96 FLA) – 1 G   1 A   2 P   +1   3 S

3rd Star: RW – Scott Mellanby (’95-’96 FLA) – 1 G   0 A   1 P   +1   13 S

GAME 4:

GAME SUMMARY:  ’93-’94 FLA – 7   ’95-’96 FLA – 2   (2-2)

STARS OF THE GAME:

1st Star: LW – Andrei Lomakin (’93-’94 FLA) – 3 G   0 A   3 P   +2   3 S

2nd Star: RW – Scott Mellanby (’93-’94 FLA) – 0 G   4 A   4 P   +2   11 S   2 PIM

3rd Star: G – Mark Fitzpatrick (’95-’96 FLA) – ND   2.00 GAA   .943 SV% (33 SV’s); Replaced starter John Vanbiesbrouck at the 7:45 mark of the first period

GAME 5:

GAME SUMMARY:  ’95-’96 FLA – 6   ’93-’94 FLA – 5   (3OT)   (3-2   ’95-’96 FLA)

STARS OF THE GAME:

1st Star: LW – Bill Lindsay (’95-’96 FLA) – 2 G   2 A   4 P   +5   7 S

2nd Star: G – John Vanbiesbrouck (’95-’96 FLA) – W   5.00 GAA   .940 SV% (78 SV’s)

3rd Star: RW – Ray Sheppard (’95-’96 FLA) – 2 G   1 A   3 P   +4   12 S

GAME 6:

GAME SUMMARY:  ’93-’94 FLA – 8   ’95-’96 FLA – 3   (3-3)

STARS OF THE GAME:

1st Star: C – Jesse Belanger (’93-’94 FLA) – 0 G   4 A   4 P   +2   4 S

2nd Star: D – Brian Benning (’93-’94 FLA) – 0 G   3 A   3 P   +5   4 S

3rd Star: RW – Scott Mellanby (’93-’94 FLA) – 2 G   0 A   2 P   +2   8 S

GAME 7:

GAME SUMMARY:  ’93-’94 FLA – 6   ’95-’96 FLA – 0   (4-3   ’93-’94 FLA)

STARS OF THE GAME:

1st Star: G – John Vanbiesbrouck (’93-’94 FLA) – W   0.00 GAA   1.000 SV% (39 SV’s)

2nd Star: RW – Andrei Lomakin (’93-’94 FLA) – 2 G   2 A   4 P   +4   5 S

3rd Star: RW – Scott Mellanby (’93-’94 FLA) – 2 G   1 A   3 P   +5   9 S

Up next in the other Semifinal is a matchup between the 2nd-seeded ’99-’00 Panthers and the 6th-seeded ’08-’09 Panthers!