The Relentless Golden Knights take first place in a physical Stanley Cup showdown 5-2 against outsiders Florida Panthers while Adin Hill saves the playoffs in a comeback win
- Zach Whitecloud scored from long range with just 13 minutes to go
- The Golden Knights fell behind after Eric Staal scored a goal with a man down
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The Vegas Golden Knights took a 1-0 series lead over the Florida Panthers in their Stanley Cup bid on Saturday night.
Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill perhaps saved the playoffs when he reached back and extended his racquet to stop Florida’s Nick Cousin from scoring and helping Vegas score the first.
With just over 13 minutes to go, Zach Whitecloud scored from long range to put Vegas ahead, a crucial penalty shootout ensued and captain Mark Stone scored an insurance goal that was checked and confirmed for a high stick.
That combination and Hill’s 31 saves gave Vegas the lead in the series after a lively opener between Sun Belt teams, who wasted little time getting used to big hits during the game and plenty of jostling and jostling after the final whistle.
Original Knights players Jonathan Marchessault and Shea Theodore also scored against Florida’s two-time Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Vegas Golden Knights took a 1-0 lead against the Florida Panthers on Saturday
Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill might have saved the playoffs
Captain Mark Stone scored a crucial goal late in Vegas’ 5-2 win in Sin City
The Panthers upped their physical game late after falling two behind. A handful of penalties from a 4:24 encounter saw the bench come up short in Florida.
But the outcome was clear long before that.
Back in the finals, they will now try to avoid the same result as in 2018 when Vegas beat Washington in Game 1 and lost the next four to fail to lift the trophy in their inaugural season.
After falling behind to a shorthanded goal from Eric Staal that took the life of a crowd of 18,432, the Golden Knights rallied for their ninth comeback win of the playoffs. Marchessault – known for scoring big goals since arriving in Las Vegas when the franchise first began – responded before the end of the first period and Theodore scored his first goal since March 7 in the second period.
In between, Hill fended off a sure goal with a desperate stick parade from Nick Cousins. The save was reminiscent of the save Washington’s Braden Holtby made against Vegas five years ago — in the same goal area.
The equalizer against Anthony Duclair with 10.2 seconds left in the second half didn’t significantly slow the Golden Knights’ momentum. Whitecloud’s goal, with Bobrovsky shielded and out of sight, once again cheered on the fans.
A handful of penalties from a 4:24 riot left the bench falling significantly short in Florida
The Golden Knights fell behind after Eric Staal (left) scored a goal with a man down.
The Golden Knights are in the finals for the second time in six years, five years after they made it in their debut season. Vegas won the 2018 opener and lost the series to Washington in five games. Six players remain from this original team.
The Panthers are playing for the cup for the first time since 1996. Florida was defeated by Colorado in that final 27 years ago, 18 months before Tkachuk, the team’s top scorer in those playoffs, was born.
It is the 66th dissimilar cup final meeting in NHL history and the 46th since the expansion era began in 1967-68. This is the first time since Washington-Vegas and only the third time since the turn of the century that the Finals will feature two teams who have never won the league’s championship.
The Golden Knights will look to extend their lead in game two in Sin City on Monday.