Vegas Golden Knights understand what's at stake in Game 5

Golden Knights relying on experience to carry them to first Stanley Cup.

The Vegas Golden Knights sit on the precipice of claiming its first Stanley Cup, six years after their inception.

Everything the Golden Knights have been building to this moment, and it’s time for them to execute.

“We’re aware of what’s at stake. How big a game this is for guys as individuals, with the organization, the city and all those things. But it’s what we play for. We’re ready for it,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We know what we’re up against and how we need to play to win. So that part, once the puck drops, is fine. As long as you get there, to the puck drop, where your mind is where it’s supposed to be and not on all the other things that go along with it.”

The Golden Knights have plenty of experience when it comes to playing in the Stanley Cup on the line.

Six Golden Knights – Alex Pietrangelo, Ivan Barbashev, Alec Martinez, Jonathan Quick, Phil Kessel and Chandler Stepheson – already have their name on the Stanley Cup. The original misfits – William Karlsson, William Carrier, Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault, Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb – played and lost in 2018. The remaining players are experiencing it for the first time.

Cassidy expects the ones who have been in this position before to take the lead and guide the first timers through the finish line.

“They’ve been there. Some of them missed once. Number of them have gotten it. There’s a small group of guys that it’s their first time,” Cassidy said. “The first-time guys may be a little more anxious and nervous, so we’ll have to make sure we’re communicating with them or getting to them. To make sure they’re in a good place, but that’s what the older guys in the room have done all year.”

Even for the experienced players like Martinez, there is still an urge to dream a little bit.

“It’s only human nature for your mind to wander a little bit to know what’s at stake. But you have to fight that,” Martinez said. “We’ve known for the entire playoffs what our goal was. Going to the final, you know what’s at stake at the end of it. We’re just trying to maintain that balance like any other game.”

Martinez has always said that the fourth victory in any series is the toughest one to get. That might be the case against a wounded Florida Panthers team, which may see its star player Matthew Tkachuk limited due to an injury.

The Panthers have clawed back from a 3-1 deficit before. They did so against the Boston Bruins, the President Trophy winners and will likely fall back on that experience if they want to have a chance at stealing the Stanley Cup away from Vegas.

But there’s plenty of reasons to hope, if you’re the Golden Knights.

They have played well often in the series against the Panthers. Vegas’s defense is a big reason why. It has been efficient in suffocating the Panthers offense and keep tight in front of Adin Hill, who has made timely saves this series.

“Overall, our game is a good place. I feel good about it. If our game wasn’t in a good place, I’d probably have knots in my stomach,” Cassidy said. “As a coach, that’s what usually what calms you down. The unexpected will always bother you. I just feel like we’re going to play well tomorrow. Will it be good enough? We’ll find out [today].”

If the Golden Knights stick to their gameplan and find ways to beat Sergei Bobrovsky, who has been relatively tame this final, then Vegas will likely lift the Cup that owner Bill Foley guaranteed.

“We know the formula to win games. We have to stick to that,” Smith said.