The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers in the first game of the NHL finals series. Both teams have never won the Stanley Cup.
The Vegas Golden Knights have won the first game of the Stanley Cup finals series. The Las Vegas ice hockey team defeated the Florida Panthers 5-2 (1-1, 1-1, 3-0) at home.
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, suffered their first away defeat in this year’s NHL playoffs since the opening game at the Boston Bruins. The Panthers had only qualified for the playoffs via wild card as the eighth-placed team in the Eastern Conference and then directly eliminated the superior main round winner from Boston.
Four wins to the Stanley Cup
The second game of the final series will also take place in Las Vegas on Tuesday night before moving to Sunrise, Florida for two games. The first team to win four games wins the Stanley Cup.
Both the Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers are in the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in their history and have never won the title. Las Vegas lost in its first NHL season against the Washington Capitals with national goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer. The Florida Panthers, founded in 1993, lost all four games against the Colorado Avalanche in 1996, with current Cologne coach Uwe Krupp scoring the decisive goal in game four to win the title.
Source: Stern
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