LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The wait is over. The Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers are taking to the ice for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final today.
VGK head coach Bruce Cassidy said the team is ready.
"We had success right out of the gate. I think we were 13-2 early on so you're thinking right away the team has a chance to be good," Cassidy told reporters before the game. "We got some injuries but we got ourselves back together and here we are. It went by quick."
Players like Zach Whitecloud and Keegan Kolesar said the team has gelled together this season, which will lead to their success.
"We knew we were going to be better. I think it was unfortunate string of injury luck that we had the year before but we knew we wanted to be in a better position this year," said Kolesar. "We wanted to take it to heart this year and that's how we've gotten to this position."
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"Once you get in the playoffs and play games, you can just kind of taste it," Whitecloud said. "Once you get that taste, it keeps on rolling. That brings camaraderie in the ground, knowing that you can get the job done each game, each series, and win in different ways."
Cassidy said the first 10 minutes will play an important role in how the rest of the game pans out.
"The time off, to me, you may or may not lose a bit of your competitive instincts and by that, I mean pinches and puck battles below the goal line, stuff that's hard to replicate in practice," Cassidy said. "We've had two good days of practice. The time in between games was equal to our last series so I think the routine has been good but you don't know until you get out there."
Several Misfits are also joining in on the fun. Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, and William Karlsson have never missed a playoff game as Golden Knights including Saturday, which will be their 84th playoff game with Vegas.
Six minutes into the first period, both teams have had three shots on goal with VGK winning 75% of faceoffs. Florida had a chance to score but Vegas goaltender Adin Hill dives on the puck to keep it out of the net. Hill makes another key save 8:30 into the game and a fight erupts on the ice. Panthers center Nick Cousins pushed Hill who then started throwing punches which has led to a fight on the ice. Cousins gets a two-minute penalty for roughing, which puts the Golden Knights on its first power play of the night.
At 9:40, Florida gets the first goal of the night. The Golden Knights turn over the puck to the Panthers. Defenseman Marc Staal wraps around the back of the net and gets the puck past the outstretched stick of Hill for a short-handed goal. Vegas only allowed three short-handed goals in the regular season but in playoffs, the team has allowed two and accoring to the NHL, this is the first time since 1997 that the first goal in a Stanley Cup Final was a short-handed goal.
Now it's Florida who is going on the power play after VGK forward William Carrier gets called for roughing against Matthew Tkachuk deep in the offensive zone 11:42 into the period. In playoff games this season, Florida is 8-0 when the team scores first. The Panthers are unable to score on the power play thanks to a couple of big shot blocks.
Vegas is going back on the power play after defenseman Josh Mahura was called for interference against William Karlsson at 16:27. They were able to get a goal thanks to a pass from Chandler Stephenson that found Jonathan Marchessault with the shot to knot things up at one goal each. That's his eighth goal in eight games.