The Vegas Golden Knights have won their first Stanley Cup title. The team secured a 9-3 Game 5 victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
With a deep lineup of 20 players, the team defeated the likes of Winnipeg, Edmonton, Dallas and finally, Florida in the finals to emerge as NHL champions after only six seasons in the league.
The Golden Knights performed the second-fastest journey to a Stanley Cup win since the expansion era, following closely behind the Edmonton Oilers, who attained the Cup during their fifth season.
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"We waited a lot of time for that moment to come back, and we wanted to make sure we cashed in," said Golden Knights winger Jonathan Marchessault. "This team has been unbelievable since the beginning."
Vegas had lost their previous four conference final runs, including a defeat to the Washington Capitals in the 2018 final.
In the latest finals, the Golden Knights maintained an aggressive defense, only letting fewer than three goals per game while also imposing calculated physicality on the Panthers.
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Game highlights
Twelve minutes into Game 5, the Golden Knights were the first to score. Mark Stone netted an unassisted short-handed goal after a stellar save by goaltender Adin Hill on a shot by Florida center Aleksander Barkov. Less than two minutes later, Vegas scored again.
Florida responded with a goal from Aaron Ekblad, assisted by Nick Cousins, narrowing the score to 2-1 with 17:45 left.
Vegas' Alec Martinez scored to regain the two-point lead, then shortly after, Reilly Smith's goal extended the lead to three points, changing the score to 4-1.
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During the second period, Vegas continued to display dominance, with Stone securing a second goal, establishing a lead of 5-1.
Center Michael Amadio scored on a rebound shot, followed by Ivan Barbashev's goal, extending the lead to 7-1. Florida later scored consolation goals through Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett.
With 5:54 left, Stone's third goal into an empty net marks the first hat-trick in a Stanley Cup final since 1996 from Peter Forsberg, coincidentally also against Florida. Finally, with just over a minute left, Nicolas Roy changed the final score to 9-3.
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The Panthers were seen playing without their top scorer in sight as Matthew Tkachuk's shoulder was injured in Game 3 due to a hit from Vegas' Keegan Kolesar.
For the first time since 1996, the Panthers were on the verge of gaining a championship, only falling one round short.
Vegas' first-year coach Bruce Cassidy pointed out that the team's depth has been a critical asset throughout the year, contributing to their many wins.
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"(Opponents) might have some better players or a better penalty kill or power play or goaltender — now we're starting to see that our guys are pretty good, too. I do believe it's been the big strength of our team. I just think it's been really good for us," Cassidy said.
After being fired by the Boston Bruins last year, Vegas hired Cassidy a week later. The 58-year-old coach propelled the Knights to claim the top seed in the Western Conference and eventually achieve the team's first NHL championship.