Golden Knights contests have always had the glitz and glamour and have been as flashy as any show on the Las Vegas Strip, the sword-fighting mascot taking the ice before what seems like a legion of players marching out through the mirrored entrance into the roar and adulation of the sellout crowd.
If this team was ever going to capture the Lord Stanley Cup, it was going to do it with Vegas style and attitude.
The Knights delivered just that from dazzling, showstopping passes that amazed everyone, from those in the stands and watching at home, to Mark Stone’s hat trick, to all-out goal celebrations, capturing the young organization’s first title with a 9-3 blowout victory over the beaten up and exhausted Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.
Coach Bruce Cassidy, in a salute to the Knights’ brief history, started five of the original Vegas players known as the Misfits and put the sixth on the second shift. Cassidy exuded confidence the day before the game that his team would play well, and they certainly did, blowing open a one-goal game in the second period to lead 6-1. The nine goals tied the record for the most in a Cup Final along with the Toronto Maple Leafs back in 1942.
“Vegas, you certainly know how to throw a party,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told the crowd. “What’s going on inside this arena and outside is incredible and a testament to what a great hockey market this is.”
Vegas closed out the series in five games to win the cup before a delirious franchise-record crowd of 19,058 at T-Mobile Arena that drowned out the pregame introductions of forward Jonathan Marchessault and goalie Adin Hill and cheered all the way through the final buzzer.
Marchessault, who ended the postseason with a 10-game points streak, earned the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our team, our organization,” Marchessault said. “Everybody stepped up at different times and that’s why we’re winners.”
Stone’s hat trick, with the third goal into an empty net with 5:54 remaining, was the first in a Stanley Cup Final since the Colorado Avalanches’ Peter Forsberg in 1996, also against the Panthers.
The Knights got the rest of their scoring from Nic Hague, Alec Martinez, Reilly Smith, Michael Amadio, Ivan Barbashev, and Nicolas Roy. Martinez’s goal in the second period came nine years to the day after he delivered the double-overtime goal in Game 5 to give the Los Angeles Kings the cup.
Hill came through with another dominant performance with 31 saves that has quickly made him a Knights fan favorite, even earning “MVP! MVP!” chants in the third period. Jack Eichel, the eight-year veteran, playing in his first postseason, had three assists.
“This is what everyone dreams of,” Eichel said. “You come to an organization like this and the expectation is to win this thing. It’s a special place to play.”
As captain, Stone was the first to raise the cup before handing it off to the six Misfits to each get their turn skating with the trophy before handing it down the line to the rest of the team.
“Unbelievable,” Stone said. “The look in my teammates’ eyes when I got it, one of the craziest feelings I’ve ever had. I can’t even describe the feelings in my stomach right now. It’s everything you can imagine.”
Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart, and Sam Bennett scored for the Panthers, and goal tender Sergei Bobrovsky was overwhelmed in another tough outing against Vegas, surrendering eight goals on 30 shots on goal, after carrying Florida to the final. Missing from the lineup was star forward Matthew Tkachuk after playing injured in Game 4 with an upper body injury.
