Vegas Golden Knights are Stanley Cup Champions, defeat Florida Panthers 9-3

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Vegas Golden Knights are officially Stanley Cup Champions after defeating the Florida Panthers 9-3 on Tuesday night. They won the best-of-seven series 4-1 to claim its first championship. Jonathan Marchessault was also named the winner of the 2023 Conn Smythe Trophy.

The Vegas Golden Knights said 19,058 people attended the game and it was the biggest crowd in franchise history.

Players previously said the key to success tonight will include keeping their emotions in check and just playing their game.

Here's how things shook out.

PREGAME

The Stanley Cup was at T-Mobile Arena but it was a question of if it would come out of its case.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said there will be a "very visible" police presence in and around T-Mobile Arena and that traffic would be heavier than normal.

DJ Steve Aoki performed at Toshiba Plaza and fighter pilots from Nellis Air Force Base flew over Toshiba Plaza and T-Mobile Arena.

There was also an outpouring of support for the Golden Knights ahead of the game.

Despite the hype around Game 5, both players and coaches tried to not to think about it too much and focus on normal routines. For example, head coach Bruce Cassidy had a laid-back morning.

"I took my dog Winnie for a walk probably around 11:30 a.m. It was awesome," Cassidy said.

For Keegan Kolesar, it meant unwinding and not thinking about the game.

"I shut off yesterday, watched a movie, relaxed and got my mind off sports," Kolesar said. "I recommend watching The Prestige by Christopher Nolan. It's a good movie. You'll never see the ending coming."

As game time approached, the team was going through their normal prep and treating Tuesday's game like any other game.

"We met this morning and went over a few things. We talked about the details and a couple of things relative to the Panthers, some of the things we do well and want to continue to do well," Cassidy said. "Once the puck drops, we'll see where we're at. Let's get on with the game and you'll figure it out as you go."

Cassidy added he knew there will be some jitters going into the game.

"There's a sense of obligation to get it done because their families are in town and they're in front of their home crowd," Cassidy said. "We felt a little like that in Game 5 against Dallas and we didn't do it. You want to get the guys out of that head space. Once they get into their car and head to the rink, they focus on how to win like we have for every game this year."

And for Mark Stone, that's where the team thrives.

"There's a lot of excitement. I think we want to have the mindset of just going game-by-game," Stone said. "I know it's a cliche but it's the hardest one to win. [Florida] has their back against the wall. I think we learned in the Dallas series not to take your foot off the gas but we got it back on the rails there. We were playing as desperate as we were all playoffs in that Game 6."

Going into the game, Zach Whitecloud said Vegas was ready to bring it.

"As a team, you recognize what weapons [the Panthers] have and how they use them in their lineup," Whitecloud said. "As far as our group, we're focusing on what we can do to impact the game and execute our game plan and stick to what we do best."

Before the game, the Florida Panthers announced that star winger Matthew Tkachuk was ruled out for the game and wouldn't not be playing. He didn't take the ice for practice or pregame warm-ups on Tuesday.

FIRST PERIOD

Head coach Bruce Cassidy started five of the six original Golden Knights. The only Misfit who didn't get the start was William Carrier. However, he got the Golden Knights first shot on goal on the second shift.

Goaltender Adin Hill once again showed why he has been nicknamed The Mountain with a huge stop against Anton Lundell less than three minutes into the game. Through the first eight minutes of the game, Florida had five shots on goal compared to Vegas who had three.

Vegas got its first power play of the game at 7:53 after Aaron Ekblad was called for interference on Brett Howden. The referees then temporarily paused play to fix a gash in the crease. Officials used ice shavings and a water bottle to fix it. The Golden Knights were aggressive and got off a shot. However, Sergei Bobrovsky was able to eat up Jonathan Marchessault's shot. However, VGK wasn't able to take advantage of the power play, which Florida killed off.

Florida got its first power play after Kolesar was called for interference on Sam Bennett about halfway through the first. Bennett hit Kolesar is open ice, which led to Kolesar finishing a check against Bennett against the Florida bench and then pushing him down. Vegas killed the power play off and the Panthers are 0-14 when it comes to power plays in this series against the Golden Knights.

Hill made an incredible save and got the puck to Stone. He was able to get a short-handed goal at 17:52 to give Vegas the early lead.

It was teammate Nicolas Hague who added to that left just 51 seconds later. After Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev get a two-on-one and scrambled in front of the net. Hague was able to get it through first. With that goal, Hague became the 12th Golden Knights player to score in the Stanley Cup Final. Marchessault got the second assist on Hague's goal to extend his point streak to 10 games. Marchessault also holds the VGK team record and leads the National Hockey League this postseason with 25 points.

That would do it for the first period with Vegas taking a 2-0 lead over Florida heading into intermission.

Eichel said it took a little bit for the team to get going.

"I thought we were a little tight. We probably weren't moving our feet as much as we wanted to," Eichel said. "They came out hard but we made some tough stops."

Eichel added it was great to come out of the first period with an early lead.

"Mark Stone is unbelievable. He's just the ultimate leader and the ultimate captain. He's one of the best players in the world and you see it on a play like that," Eichel said. "With Hague's goal, Marchy makes a great play on the wall and great job by Hague following it up."

So what should the team do in the second period?

"We need to keep the puck out of the middle," Eichel said. "We defended well but keeping the puck out of the middle of the ice and supporting it and playing our game."

SECOND PERIOD

Florida came out fighting and clawing. They tacked on a goal 2:15 into the second period. Ekblad was able to rip a wrister over Hill's shoulder to find the back of the net and make it 2-1.

According to the NHL, nine teams have overcome a multi-goal deficit to win an elimination game in the Stanley Cup Final. The only teams to do that in the expansion era are the 1987 Flyers and 1971 Canadiens.

Bobrovsky continued to make strong saves blocking shots from Marchessault and Pietrangelo. However, the Golden Knights were aggressive to get a goal with 9:32 left in the period. Alex Pietrangelo got the play started with a stretch pass to Eichel who was able to get it to the top of the right circle. Alec Martinez got hte pass and found the back of the net. Martinez is no stranger to making key goals. Nine years ago today, he scored the Game 7 winner for the LA Kings in the Stanley Cup Final. The NHL said this goal was Martinez's fourth Stanley Cup Final goal, which is the most of all active defensemen.

Less than two minutes later, it was Reilly Smith's turn to score. He got an insane pass from William Karlsson between his own legs. Smith then buried the loose puck to make it 4-1.

With 2:45 left in the second period, Stone scored his second goal of the night, which prompted the crowd to start chanting "We Want The Cup".

Then it was Michael Amadio's turn to join the scoring party. Michael Amadio was able to get the rebound and was decked getting the puck into the net to make it 6-1. That would be the last goal of the period with VGK holding a commanding lead heading into intermission.

THIRD PERIOD

Hill continued to be a wall in the net for the Golden Knights with several key saves to keep the Panthers from scoring again. With 14 minutes left in the game, Vegas had outshot Florida 26 to 21. The crowd erupts after a major glove save by Hill to rob Anthony Duclair of scoring a goal. That prompted the arena DJ to play the King Of The Hill theme song and the crowd to start chanting MVP.

With 11:38 left in the game, Ivan Barbashev added to the Vegas lead and scored. Eichel backhanded it near the net and Barbashev was able to get that rebound past Bobrovsky. Eichel has three assists tonight and leads all players in playoffs with 26 points.

The Panthers answer right back with a shot by Sam Reinhart to make it 7-2. With 8:21 left in the game, the Panthers added another goal after Bennett got one past Hill. Florida pulled their goalie with 6:43 left in the period to get another man on the ice.

Stone was able to get the hat trick and he scored his third goal of the night with 5:54 left in the game to put the Knights up 8-3. That led to a shower of hats falling on the ice.

Tuesday night's eight goals ties the Knights' record for the most in a game and they've done it once before.

However, that wouldn't be the last Vegas goal of the night. Nicolas Roy scored with only 1:03 left in the game to make it 9-3.

According to the NHL, this game was the highest-scoring Stanley Cup-clinching game in league history.