Florida has won 11 of their last 12 games en route to reaching the Stanley Cup Final
The time has finally arrived.
Tonight, for the first time in 27 years, the Florida Panthers will play in the Stanley Cup Final.
Has the 10-day gap between games felt exactly as long as it sounds? Yes, it has.
But let’s be honest.
Waiting that time while knowing the Panthers were going to be in the Final after looking SO good during their march through the East hasn’t exactly been a drag.
Now things will change.
Hockey is back, and with it comes the immense stress and pressure of being this close to the ultimate. The extreme. The mountaintop.
One of these teams is going to win the Stanley Cup.
The Vegas franchise has been around for just six years, but they have been six unprecedented years.
Only once in their existence have the Golden Knights failed to reach the playoffs. They’ve been in the conference final four times, and this is their second trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
While the franchise hasn’t been around a while, it’s one that feels it has paid its dues.
It’s a similar story with the Panthers.
Florida has reached the postseason in four straight years.
First it was the qualifying round in the bubble playoffs of 2020, then a first-round loss to Tampa in 2021, following by a second-round sweep by the Lightning last spring.
Both the Panthers and the Golden Knights are battle tested, with the scars to prove it.
Now they’ll go toe-to-toe for the right to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup.
LINEUP NOTES
The status quo remains for the Panthers heading into the Stanley Cup Final.
That’s the benefit of having 10 days between games, it gives each and every player the chance to recharge their batteries and heal any injuries suffered along the long and beaten path to the Final.
Florida’s one potential question mark, forward Eetu Luostarinen, has been back on the ice and said Friday that he’s “feeling pretty good right now.” He’s expected to be in the Panthers lineup on Saturday.
As a reminder, here is how Florida’s lines and pairings should look at the start of Game 1:
Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Anthony Duclair
Nick Cousins – Sam Bennet – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Ryan Lomberg – Eric Staal – Colin White
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Marc Staal – Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura – Radko Gudas
On the Vegas side of the ice, the Golden Knights enter the Final in similar shape as the Panthers in terms of health.
Our friend Ken from over at SinBin.vegas provided his projected lines and pairings for Game 1 of the Final.
Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Jonathan Marchessault
Reilly Smith – William Karlsson – Michael Amadio
Brett Howden – Chadler Stephenson – Mark Stone
William Carrier – Nicholas Roy – Keegan Kolesar
Alec Martinez – Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Nicolas Hague – Zach Whitecloud
The goaltending matchup for Saturday’s Game 1 will be Sergei Bobrovsky for Florida and Adin Hill for the Golden Knights.
Both have been playing above and beyond expectations, and that will need to continue for either of them to lead their team to Stanley Cup glory.
LINEUP UPDATES
Maurice said Luostarinen would be a game-time decision.
"He skated the last two days," Maurice said. "Optimistic."
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Matthew Tkachuk on Vegas’ playoff success: “I know as a team they’ve been as steady as any team has been. I think since Game 5 in Boston you can throw us in that category with them as well, but they’ve been challenged, but not really in the playoffs so far. They haven’t had an elimination game, they’ve ran through the west. We have our hands full."
Sasha Barkov on importance of Game 1: “I think every game is important. For us, it’s to go out and play as hard as possible, it doesn’t matter which game it is. It’s a long series, but we only thing about one game at a time.”
Carter Verhaeghe on what to expect in a Game 1: “Right at the start, both teams are really coming out flying and then after in the second period things usually settle down and you can get a feel for it. This first period is going to be pretty intense.”
Anton Lundell on coming off a long break between games: “I think for us today, for the first five or 10 minutes, just try to play a little more simple, get pucks deep and try to get the feel of the game again. Overall we’re well rested and ready to go.”