The Vegas Golden Knights have in the North American professional ice hockey league NHL the first game of the final series for the Stanley Cup against the Florida Panthers won at home 5:2 (1:1, 1:1, 3:0).
Zach Whitecloud put the Golden Knights ahead in the final third. Goalkeeper Adin Hill had 33 saves on goal, most notably a stick save from Nick Cousins early in the second period. Shea Theodore and Jonathan Marchessault scored two of the six players who have played for Las Vegas since the Knights formed six years ago. It was Marchessault’s fifth goal in six games.
Florida, meanwhile, conceded its first away defeat in this year’s NHLplayoffs since the opening game at the Boston Bruins. The Panthers only had each other via wildcard as the eighth-place team Eastern Conference qualified for the playoffs and then directly eliminated the superior main round winner from Boston.
Four wins to the Stanley Cup
The second game of the finals series will also take place in Las Vegas before continuing for two games Sunrise, Florida switches. The first team to win four games wins the Stanley Cup.
Both the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers are in the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in their history and have never won the title. Las Vegas lost to the in its first NHL season Washington Capitals with national goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer. The Florida Panthers, formed in 1993, lost all four games to the 1996 Colorado Avalancheswith the current Cologne coach Uwe Krupp scoring the decisive goal in game four to win the title.