The Florida Panthers were hoping for a much better result on Saturday than the unfortunate fate they suffered in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers, and Conn Smythe Trophy candidate Sam Bennett was doing his part to make sure it happened.

The Panthers forward scored his 15th goal of the postseason in the opening 20 minutes of Game 5 on Saturday evening, increasing Florida's lead to 2-0. He picked up a loose puck after Matthew Tkachuk's shot was blocked and whistled a shot through the pads of goaltender Calvin Pickard.

In doing so, he actually destroyed the camera in the net with a perfectly placed shot that shattered the glass.

He also became just the fourth active player in the NHL today to have reached 15 goals in a single postseason. His Panthers teammate Brad Marchand had given the Panthers a 1-0 lead earlier in the period with his fifth goal of the Stanley Cup Final, joining Mario Lemieux as the only two players in League history to have scored at least five goals in a Cup Final series multiple times.

Bennett, Marchand are pending Panthers free agents

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Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett (9) celebrates scoring during the first period against the Edmonton Oilers in game five of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place.
Perry Nelson-Imagn Images

Both Bennett and Marchand are eligible to enter unrestricted free agency when the calendar turns to July, and not only have both players staked a legitimate case to be named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy, but they've also both helped to boost their price tag.

Bennett is playing in his third consecutive Stanley Cup Final and is in the final season of the four-year contract he signed in Florida after having previously played for the Calgary Flames.

Meanwhile, Marchand was acquired from the Boston Bruins at the NHL Trade Deadline and has become one of the most valuable additions that any NHL club has made in recent memory for a stretch postseason run. He's playing as if he were 10 years younger and with all of the energy and tenacity he displayed as a rookie with the Bruins in the 2011 postseason that resulted in the franchise's first championship since the days of Bobby Orr in the early 1970s.