LAS VEGAS — The Golden Knights brought the party to The Strip as they won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, defeating the Florida Panthers 9-3 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.
Vegas blew the game open in the second period, building off their 2-1 lead by scoring five goals in the middle frame to go up 7-1 going into the final period.
Mark Stone tallied a hat-trick in the win, giving him the first hat-trick in a Stanley Cup Final since 1996.
“If you have these jobs and you want to avoid the hard decisions, you probably shouldn’t have these jobs,” McCrimmon said. “But it’s been a process that’s, I think, been calculated. I think it’s been based on good decisions made for the right reasons.”
The Golden Knights also had goals from Nic Hague, Alec Martinez, Reilly Smith, Michael Amadio, Ivan Barbashev, and Nicolas Roy.
“Our depth has been a strength all year,” Vegas first-year coach Bruce Cassidy said. “(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.”
Vegas used their defense all postseason, allowing just less than three goals per game and punishing opponents with physical defensive performances, trailing just once in the playoffs all year.
“Everyone’s got to give a little bit,” said defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. “We’ve all done that, and we all understand that maybe giving up a couple of minutes to each other’s going to keep the energy up throughout the game.”
The Golden Knights defeated Winnipeg, Edmonton, Dallas, and then Florida in the postseason in the final to capture the championship, using 20 players over four rounds.
“He’s played well all year for us,” Pietrangelo said. “All of our goalies have played well regardless of who’s in here. It’s a credit to him for being prepared when he did come in there a few series ago.”
