Vegas Golden Knights Crowned Stanley Cup Champions

The Vegas Golden Knights are Stanley Cup Champions for the first time in franchise history.

Vegas fulfills the prophecy set forth by their owner defeating the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final by a score of 9-3 behind a hat trick from captain Mark Stone.

Jonathan Marchessault was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy. Marchessault had 13 goals (tied with Leon Draisaitl of Edmonton) for the most in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He also finished with 25 points in the playoffs one behind Jack Eichel, who recorded 26 with three assists in Game 5.

Adin Hill had to be sharp early and really all night as he continued to make remarkable saves including a remarkable glove save on Anthony Duclair in the third period. It was the fifth or sixth great save he had to make. It was something he had done all series long.

The Golden Knights started slowly as the Panthers took advantage of the nerves. You could feel the energy in the building as head coach Bruce Cassidy started the Golden Misfits Line of Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, William Karlsson, Shea Theodore, and Brayden McNabb.

Florida also used some of the momentum from the end of Game 4. Not to mention the two days off hurt Vegas again. Thus Hill had to be on point. And he was ready to go. Just as he did in Games 1 and 4, Hill made series-changing saves. First on Hill robbed Anton Lundell on a breakaway to keep scoreless. Then Aleksander Barkov on the powerplay. These saves allowed Vegas to settle in and find their game.

And just like in Game 1, it was a shorthanded goal that opened the scoring. This time it was Vegas scoring as Stone made it 1-0. Then Nicolas Hague makes it 2-0. Jack Eichel good offensive effort to get the puck as Sergei Bobrovsky makes a great save losing his stick and his stick saves the initial shot from going in. Marchessault picked up an assist to record his 25th point of the playoffs to take over the points lead.

The two goals by Vegas in 1:49 in the first period titled the ice in favour of the Golden Knights. Most expected the Golden Knights to start the first period how they ended it by being offensive instead of defensive. Once Vegas found their game Bobrovsky had to hold the fort down for the Panthers. Bobrovsky was sharp and it was 2-0 after 20 minutes of play.

The second period was more of the same, however, Florida was able to cut the lead in half on a goal by Aaron Ekblad and it appeared the Panthers had the momentum. Hill had to be sharp  Florida was rolling. Vegas again once started slow and got to the first TV timeout of the period. In the first period, it helped leading to the first goal of the game. In the second it is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Coming out of the TV timeout, the Golden Knights found their legs and their game again and pinned the Panthers in their zone shift after shift. Jack Eichel was the catalyst for Vegas. The Golden Knights got pucks deep and cycled the puck behind the Panthers defence. Vegas had chances to score but missed the net and Bobrovsky made some good saves too.

But then Eichel caught the Panthers on a change sending Alec Martinez in on a breakaway who made it 3-1 Vegas. It was Martinez’s second goal of the series and fourth in the Stanley Cup Final. Then Vegas continued to pour the momentum on putting together a two-minute shift in the Panthers zone. This time it was the original Golden Misfits connecting Karlsson and Smith to make it 4-1. The hole got deeper for the Panthers.

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It was going to be a tall order to send the series back to South Florida even with Matthew Tkachuk in the lineup. But with no Tkachuk in the lineup for Game 5, it was an even taller task. This was a massive loss for a team that did not have much depth scoring in the Stanley Cup Final. Tkachuk was dealing with a serious upper-body injury. Head coach Paul Maurice told the media he was a game-time decision, but he did not take warmups prior to Game 5 and it was announced he wasn’t going to play.

Recall, Tkachuk got hit by  Keegan Kolesar in Game 3 and was not the same player since then. Tkachuk was dealing with a shoulder injury or something near there as he could barely hold the stick in Game 4. That was a series-changing hit. Tkachuk accounted for 41 percent of the Panthers offence and the rest of the team could not generate enough goals to match the Golden Knights depth.

As the second period came to an end the Golden Knights poured it on even more as Stone got his second of the night to make it 5-1. The Golden Knights put together a stretch of scoring three goals in under seven minutes. Then Michael Amadio made it 6-1 with seconds left in the second period as the Golden Knights scored four goals in the period. Vegas continues to dominate the second period outscoring their opponents 34-11.

Florida would add two third-period goals off the sticks of Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett. While Ivan Barbashev picked up the seventh Vegas goal. Stone missed twice at the open net for the hat trick. But on the third try, he recorded the hat trick. It was the first Stanley Cup Final hat trick since Peter Forsberg, who accomplished that feat in 1996 against the Panthers. Nicolas Roy added the ninth goal as Vegas continued to pour it on.

Who would have thought Bill Foley’s vision would come true with a Stanley Cup Championship in the first six seasons of existence? Well, this Vegas Golden Knights team was on a mission to make it come true. Two trips to the Stanley Cup Final in six seasons including in their first year of existence. Just a dominant performance from start to finish.

What the Vegas Golden Knights have done as an expansion team is truly remarkable as they have become Stanley Cup Champions for the very first time.