Following a 5-2 Game 1 victory over the Florida Panthers, history is on the side of the Vegas Golden Knights as they look to hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.
A whopping 76 percent of teams who win the first game of the Final go on win Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Both the Golden Knights and Panthers are searching for their first Cup. It’s only the seventh time in NHL history two Cup-less teams have battled in the Final – and the first time since 2018, when Vegas lost to the Washington Capitals.
Vegas used timely goal-scoring and a big night in the net from Adin Hill to steal Game 1 on a night where they weren’t at their best.
Tied with the Panthers 2-2 after two periods, the Golden Knights scored three unanswered goals in the third.
After Zach Whitecloud put in the go-ahead goal at 6:59 of the third, captain Mark Stone gave Vegas a two-goal advantage, knocking down a clearing pass in the Panthers’ zone before beating netminder Sergei Bobrovsky. The Golden Knights would later add an empty-netter from Reilly Smith to seal the victory.
Meanwhile, Hill was outstanding after allowing a shorthanded goal in the first period to open the scoring.
Just after the start of the second period, with the game knotted up at 1-1, Hill made possibly the save of the postseason, turning away a sure goal from Nick Cousins in close with a ridiculous stick save as he slid away from his net.
Hill would come up huge again late in the third period. Following Stone’s goal, Hill stoned Panthers’ Sam Reinhart on a breakaway, keeping the two-goal lead intact with just over two minutes to go.
The Golden Knights will look to take a 2-0 lead in the series when they host the Panthers for Game 2 on Monday at 8 p.m.
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