SinBin.vegas was the first website exclusively focused on the Vegas Golden Knights
We’re less than a day away from the beginning of the Stanley Cup Final.
Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena the Vegas Golden Knights will host the Florida Panthers in Game 1.
It’s been an amazing, Cinderella-esque run for Florida, a team that suffered through such a tumultuous season it wasn’t until game 81 of 82 that they secured their spot in the playoffs.
There was actually a team that finished with more points than the Panthers but didn’t get qualify (sorry, Calgary).
Telling the stories of Florida’s shocking march through the best teams in the Eastern Conference to reach the final has been a great and rewarding experience, one that will continue for at least another couple weeks.
But what about their Stanley Cup opponent?
Vegas finished the season as the top team in the Western Conference.
Pacific Division champions for a fourth time in six years of existence. That’s unprecedented stuff from an expansion team, regardless of the sport.
To provide some knowledge and insight into the Panthers’ Stanley Cup Final opponent, we’ve got one of the most knowledgeable Vegas’ beat reporters out there.
Ken Boehlke runs SinBin.vegas, the place Golden Knights fans know they can trust for excellent, in-depth coverage of the Vegas hockey club.
On Thursday night, I joined Ken and the SinBin community for a lengthy Q&A, and you can hear it all by clicking here.
Ken was kind enough to return the favor and answer a few questions about the Golden Knights ahead of the start of the Stanley Cup Final.
The Hockey News: What has Vegas excelled at during their run to the Stanley Cup Final?
Ken Boehlke: Vegas’ biggest strength in this postseason has been their ability to dominate at 5-on-5. They’ve done it in all three zones with a strong forecheck, great structure through the neutral zone, and consistent, clean breakouts. The depth of the roster both at forward and defense has allowed them to feel comfortable playing all 18 players against any line/pair combination on the other side. It’s led to matchup nightmares for the opposition and eventually, in all three series, they’ve worn down the other team and beaten them up at even-strength.
THN: Jack Eichel has seemed to take his game to another level during his first postseason action. Where does he best impact the game for Vegas?
KB: Eichel’s ability to push back defenders and open space in the neutral and offensive zones has been the place where he’s impacted the game most. This starts with his improved backchecking and positional awareness in the defensive zone. Once he gets the puck, it’s a jailbreak up the ice and it leads to clean entries with plenty of space for (Jonathan) Marchessault and (Ivan) Barbashev to operate.
THN: On the same note, Matthew Tkachuk has been a game-changer for Florida. What can Vegas do to try and mitigate his impact?
KB: The key for Vegas to offset what Tkachuk does best is to limit his effectiveness on the forecheck. If the Golden Knights can consistently break out of the zone by beating the aggressive Florida forecheck, it should limit the amount of damage Tkachuk is able to do creating turnovers. He’ll still be dangerous on the power play and can be a problem getting in front of the goal during spurts of extended offensive zone, but the Golden Knights are much better equipped to handle that after playing (Connor) McDavid, (Leon) Draisaitl, and the Dallas first line.
THN: Are there any areas of concern where the Golden Knights have struggled during the postseason?
KB: It sounds kind of ridiculous, but the Golden Knights really haven’t had many troubles this postseason. In the games they have lost, an added layer of physicality has been their undoing. The Oilers were able to turn up their forecheck and strike quickly against Vegas in Games 2 and 4. Winnipeg did something similar in Game 1 by attacking Vegas’ breakouts with a hard-hitting aggressive forecheck. Vegas adapted quickly to it each time though which has them feeling pretty confident they can do it again in the Stanley Cup Final.
THN: It seems like every time I’ve seen Vegas play, Adin Hill has performed brilliantly. What’s the deal with Hill?
KB: I’ve joked before that he’s been so good, I’ve had to bookmark the thesaurus entry for “tremendous” on my web browser. Outstanding, unbelievable, stupendous, whichever word you want to use for him, he’s been it at different times since being thrust into the starting role in Game 3 against Edmonton. All this being said, what makes the Golden Knights so good is how well they insulate their goaltenders. Vegas survived a run of having to use five goalies in a month because of the way they defend. They keep most shots to the outside, they block ridiculous numbers of shots, and they are excellent at boxing out to keep forwards away from any rebounds that are left. Hill was asked to do a lot in a few games, and he’s done it, which will remain one of the great mysteries of the universe considering his career to this point, but in most of the games this run, he’s simply had to do his job, and he’s done it.
THN: One of Florida’s strengths during the playoffs has been their aggressive forecheck. Do you think the Golden Knights will be able to neutralize that?
KB: When Vegas is playing at its best, they are excellent at retrieving pucks, making quick decisions, and winning board battles to get the puck out of the zone. At times this postseason they’ve been so good at it that teams have had to back their forecheck off to limit the Golden Knights’ transition game when they go break out. As mentioned before, it has been an issue in a few games the Golden Knights have lost, so there should be plenty of belief for Florida that they can continue to do what they’ve done well to get to this point, but if Vegas starts breaking through, it has frustrated every opponent the Golden Knights have faced, and I would expect the same from Florida.
THN: Who or what would you consider Vegas’ X-Factor?
KB: It’s William Karlsson. Even if you take away the 10 goals he’s scored, which is kind of an absurd thing to say but stay with me for a minute, Karlsson has made life a living hell on the best player of every other team. In the Edmonton series, Jay Woodcroft admitted he was purposely avoiding the matchup of (Connor) McDavid vs. Karlsson. It was such a problem for Edmonton that McDavid only played five minutes in the first period of Game 6. Karlsson is a legit shutdown center that does it with speed, backchecking, and an endurance level that is unmatched. He will neutralize one Florida line over the course of this series, it’s just a matter of which one.
THN: Final question - What is your Stanley Cup Final prediction?
KB: I’ve got Vegas in 7 with the road teams winning the first six games of the series. I expect the whole rest/rust thing to be forgotten in the first 10 minutes of Game 1 and the Golden Knights to take a little while to get used to how to beat the Panthers’ forecheck. Once they do, they’ll start to make hay when the series gets to Florida. The Panthers will claw back in Game 5, but Vegas wins 6 and 7 to hoist the Stanley Cup.