Winnipeg's Mark Stone and the Vegas Golden Knights are first-time Stanley Cup champions.
Led by Stone's hat trick, the Golden Knights finished off Paul Maurice's Florida Panthers by way of an 9-3 final at T-Mobile Arena, capturing the franchise's first Cup in just six years in the league.
Needing just one more season than Wayne Gretzky's expansion Edmonton Oilers (five seasons), the Knights became the second-quickest team to earn hockey's greatest prize.
Stone got the home team on the board early Tuesday night, scoring a shorthanded marker, while fellow Winnipegger Keegan Kolesar watched on from the penalty box. The first player to celebrate the goal with the team's 31-year-old captain? None other than Brandon, Manitoba's Zach Whitecloud.
Nic Hague gave Vegas a second goal before the opening frame came to a close, as he jammed home a Jack Eichel rebound play. The Panthers fell behind 2-0 on the scoreboard, while trailing 11-8 on the shot
But Maurice's Panthers were not going down without a fight.
At least momentarily.
Defenceman Aaron Ekblad cut the Golden Knights' lead in half just 2:15 into the middle stanza. Off an Ivan Barbashev defensive zone turnover, Ekblad's seeing-eye wrist shot floated its way through Adin Hill and into the net, making it 2-1, with 37:15 left to play.
But after that early-period scare, Vegas rediscovered its form, scoring two quick markers in a span of just 1:45, and another two before the period drained out.
First, it was Alec Martinez, who restored Vegas' two-goal lead, scoring on the nine-year anniversary of his Stanley Cup overtime-winning goal with the Los Angeles Kings.
Then, Reilly Smith, one of the original six Golden Knights from the 2017 Expansion Draft, potted some insurance for Vegas.
Stone added his second of the game and 10th of the playoffs, before Michael Amadio hammered home the 6-1 tally with just one second remaining in the frame.
After doing the majority of the damage in the second half of the middle period, it was simply a 'play it out' final 20 minutes for Vegas.
Barbashev got the Golden Knights' seventh goal of the game on Jack Eichel's 20th assist of the postseason, before Sam Reinhart put the Panthers back on the board.
Sam Bennett brought Florida to within four goals with 8:21 to play, as he put a long-range point shot off the stick of Alex Pietrangelo and into the net.
Other than the two third period goals against, Hill stood tall in net, finishing the game with 28 saves on 31 shots faced. His very best came in a desperation glove stop on Anthony Duclair.
It was captain Stone who sealed it for the Golden Knights, - before Nicolas Roy added insult to injury - scoring an empty-netter on his third length-of-the-ice clearing attempt. The Kirkfield-Westwood product became the first player to score a Stanley Cup-clinching hat trick since 1922 (Babe Dye, Toronto St. Pat's).
And rightfully so, it was Stone who accepted the first touch of the greatest trophy in professional sports from commissioner Gary Bettman, blowing the roof off T-Mobile Arena.
Rostered Manitobans for Kelly McCrimmon's Golden Knights are Stone (Winnipeg), Kolesar (Winnipeg), Whitecloud (Brandon) and Brett Howden (Oakbank).
Other members of the team include Winnipeg's Nolan Patrick and Winkler's Byron Froese.
Three of the team's goaltenders used this season also have connections to the province: Laurent Brossoit spent three years with the Winnipeg Jets, while Logan Thompson and Jiri Patera each played multiple years for the Brandon Wheat Kings.
With the extensive number of Manitobans on the squad, the Cup visits throughout the middle province will certainly be aplenty this offseason.