That was an almighty thumping. The Las Vegas Golden Knights have made their owner Bill Foley’s 6-year cup prediction come true as they utterly, totally demolished the Florida Panthers 9-3 in Game 5 to win the series 4-1 and clinch the franchise’s first ever Stanley Cup.
What a way to win Lord Stanley’s cup.
The Vegas Golden Knights have joined the Stanley Cup winners club in near record-breaking time as they BATTERED the Florida Panthers 9-3 in Game 5 to not only win the series 4-1 and claim their first Stanley Cup, but they also did so in just 6 years as an organization. And, despite some people despising the way Vegas has been run these last 6 years, the results are overwhelmingly in their favor.
I’m not really sure what to say about that game.
On one hand, it would be easy to just write this off as the Panthers finally realizing they had no chance against the Golden Knights and just giving up. And, that kind of what happened as they gave up the single-most goals in a Stanley Cup Finals elimination game in the 130+ year the Stanley Cup has been awarded.
However, on the other hand, that really wouldn’t be telling the whole story of this game as the Panthers actually came out swinging early on as they forced Adin Hill (32 saves, .914% SV, 3 GAA on 35 shots) to make some huge saves in the opening 10 minutes of the match, including one on an Anton Lundell (0 PTS, -2 +/-) breakaway and a save on the PK from an Aleksander Barkov (0 PTS, -3 +/-) open look.
The Panthers really had to climb a Mount Everest-sized mountain to overcome the Golden Knights in this game given the fact they not only were down 3-1 in the series and were playing in front of a crazed Las Vegas crowd, but they were also dealing with some DEVESTATING injuries to key players.
Matthew Tkachuk, who is the life and soul of this hockey team, couldn’t play yesterday due to suffering a BROKEN STERNUM after that Keegan Kolesar hit back in Game 3, Aaron Ekblad, who somehow did play, had a broken foot, two shoulder separations, and an oblique tear, Radko Gudas had a terribly sprained high ankle, Sam Bennett had an undisclosed shoulder injury so painful he could barley take off his shoulder pads (probably a separation of some kind), and Eetu Luostarinen didn’t even play in the Final after blocking a shot vs. the Canes.
And these are just the notable injuries Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said after the game.
In total, he revealed that the Panthers players were suffering from 4 broken bones, numerous shoulder tears, separations, etc., oblique tears, and all sorts of bumps and bruises. I’m sure the Golden Knights are also dealing with similar injuries of their own, but this list just goes to show how banged up and broken the Panthers were in this series.
And, when you’re facing off against a red-hot Golden Knights team that can roll all four lines for 2+ minutes, you’ve got a massive problem on your hands….which is what we saw last night.
After that 10-minute burst, the Panthers powerplay woes (Panthers went 0-13 against Vegas in the series, which is the 2nd worst percentage in NHL Finals history) got even worse as Mark Stone (3 G, 3 PTS, +2 +/-) stole the puck from Carter Verhaeghe (0 PTS, -1 +/-) at the blue line and skated all the way in front of Sergei Bobrovsky’s (23 saves, .742% SV, 8 GAA on 31 shots)Â goal before rifling the puck over his shoulder to give Vegas a 1-0 lead.
Then, just two minutes later, the Panthers got caught out on another 2 vs. 1 that saw Ivan Barbashev (1 G, 1 PT, +1 +/-) double Vegas’ lead through a scrappy rebound goal, closing out the 1st period 2-0 for the home team.
And, sadly for Florida fans, the 2nd period got a lot worse for them.
Despite seeing Aaron Ekblad (1 G, 1 PT, +1 +/-) claw back a goal through a one-time blast from the point, the Vegas Golden Knights showed why they are the most ruthless, dominating 2nd period teams in the NHL these playoffs as they slaughtered what was left of the Panthers hope through 4 2nd period goals! And, I mean slaughtered the Panthers.
There must have been 4-5 shifts that saw the Knights hem the Panthers into their own zone for 2-3 minutes…which would lead to goals like Riley Smith’s (1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS, +2 +/-) one-timer.
And, when the Panthers would finally clear the puck, they would get punished with sloppy, tired line changes and/or sloppy turnovers in the form of Martinez’s (1 G, +1 +/-) goal, Mark Stone’s blast that squeezed through Bobrovsky, and Matt Amadio’s (1 G, 1 PT, +2 +/-) jam-home goal goal with 1.2 seconds left on the clock.
There’s really no other way of saying what happened to the Panthers in the 2nd period other than the Vegas Golden Knights broke their will and spirit though grinding, relentless, offensive zone pressure. And the Golden Knights were rewarded with a 6-1 lead to head into the 3rd and final period of the 2022/23 NHL season.
Now, the Panthers and Golden Knights pretty much just got into a Wild West shootout in the 3rd that saw both teams score at least two goals (Panthers: 2, Golden Knights: 3), both goalies make miraculous saves (especially Adin Hill’s highway robbery glove save on Anthony Duclair), and both sides just simply abandon their defensive responsibilities in favor of adding more goals to the match.
So, seeing Vegas win 9-3 might be shocking for someone who didn’t watch the game, but the Stanley Cup Finals were over the momentum Mark Stone capped off three relentless Golden Knights shifts by squeezing home a slot one-timer in the middle of the 2nd period.
Nonetheless, as you would suspect, the Vegas fans put on a real treat for the players, coaches, staff, and executives all throughout the 3rd period and when the final horn sounded with cheers, applause, and joyous, spontaneous sing-alongs as the Golden Knights put the memories of 2018 Finals loss to rest.
As I said with the Nuggets championship celebrations after their win, it’s great to watch a fanbase that has never experienced championship success finally get a taste of what it means to be a city of champions.
Obviously, you feel bad for Florida and their fans (because they just lost two finals in two days), but this Stanley Cup trophy rightfully belonged to the Vegas Golden Knights for their remarkable, incredible 2022/23 season and postseason.
And, it was only fitting that Jonathan Marchessault (1 A, +1 +/-), one of the last remaining “Misfit” members of the 2018 team, won the Conn Smyth trophy for being the playoff MVP.
Congratulations, Vegas Golden Knights, you have more than earned this tremendous honor as you’ve not only brought the very first championship to the city of Las Vegas, but you also became the second-fastest expansion team to win a Stanley Cup.
Who’s ahead of them? Oh, just the 1985 Edmonton Oilers super team as they won in 5 years to the Golden Knights’ 6.
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