Vegas wins first Stanley Cup in franchise history following 8-3 victory over Florida in Game 5
With the odds stacked against them, the Florida Panthers took the ice in Las Vegas hoping to extend the Stanley Cup Final for at least another game.
Unfortunately for the Cats, things would not go their way.
The Golden Knights jumped all over the Panthers, who were playing without All-Star winger Matthew Tkachuk.
Vegas went up 2-0 early and used a dominant second period to steamroll Florida and clinch the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.
It was a hell of a run for the Panthers.
While in the moment it may be hard to appreciate what they accomplished during the playoffs, what the team pulled off over the past couple months is something fans of the franchise should carry with them always.
FIRST PERIOD
The first high-end chance of the game came off the stick of Anton Lundell.
A turnover by Jack Eichel led to Lundell having the puck all alone below the circles on Adin Hill, who came up with a nice blocker save down low.
Overall it was a solid start to the game for Florida, putting five shots on Hill in the game’s first five minutes while generating some decent zone time.
A good way to kill momentum…take a penalty.
The first infraction of the game went to Aaron Ekblad for interference at the 12:07 mark.
Vegas entered the game 6-for-18 on the power play but they couldn’t solve the Panthers or their goaltender on this one.
Sergei Bobrovsky was sharp to start the game and made a nice save sliding to his left after Jonathan Marchessault deflected the puck on net during the power play.
Not long after the penalty expired, it would be Vegas’ turn to sit in the sin bin after Keegan Kolesar was called for interference when he hit Sam Bennett behind the play.
Hill made a great right pad save on Barkov on the doorstep, and moments later Mark Stone found himself with all kinds of room heading into the Florida zone following a giveaway by Carter Verhaeghe, who had trouble controlling a pass by Bennett at the Panthers blue line.
He patiently outwaited Bobrovsky and scored over his glove to give Vegas a 1-0 lead.
It was nearly 2-0 less than a minute later when Reilly Smith found himself with lots of spece in the left circle, but his slapshot was snared by the glove of Bobrovsky.
A great save by Bobrovsky on Eichel wouldn’t stay out of the net long as Nick Hague poked it over the goal line as Bob reached behind him.
With 6:19 to go in the first period it was 2-0 Vegas.
That would be the score when intermission arrived, with the Golden Knights outshooting Florida 11-8.
SECOND PERIOD
The Panthers needed a fast start to the second period and that’s exactly what they would get.
Just over two minutes in, Aaron Ekblad sent a wrist shot through traffic and past Hill to get Florida on the board.
Bobrovsky came up with a great left pad save on Marchessault when the Vegas sniper had the puck bounce right to his stick while standing in front of the net.
Moments later, Bob stopped a deflected shot with a stretching right pad save, but Vegas came right back into the zone and Alec Martinez beat Bobrovsky over the blocker.
Just past the halfway point of the game, it was the Golden Knights up 3-1.
Reilly Smith sent the building into a frenzy when he scored another one for Vegas about two minutes later.
From then it, it would be all Golden Knights, all the time.
Stone would score his second of the game off a nice feed from Brett Howden with under three minutes left in the period, leading to a deafening “We want the Cup” chant inside T-Mobile Arena.
Vegas scored again with 1.2 seconds left in the period to make it 6-1 heading into the break.
The Golden Knights were twenty minutes from the Stanley Cup.
THIRD PERIOD
When it’s a five-goal game in the third period of the Stanley Cup clinching matchup, play goes quickly.
Hill continued to be a brick wall for the Golden Knights as Florida continued attempting to get something past the massive goaltender.
He came up with a sparkling glove save on Anthony Duclair, sliding to his left and snaring the puck out of midair.
Sam Reinhart jumped on a turnover at the Vegas blue line and snapped a long shot past Hill form the top of the right circle to make the score 7-2.
Florida scored again on a Bennett deflection of a Gus Forsling point shot not long after to give the game a football score of 7-3.
The Panthers pulled Bobrovsky with around seven minutes to go as a last-ditch effort.
Stone scored into the empty net, completing the Stanley Cup hat trick, and Vegas would add a ninth goal in the final moments for good measure.
GAME NOTES
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