NHL: Vegas Golden Knights beat Florida Panthers in game five for first Stanley Cup
- Published
The Vegas Golden Knights became the fastest expansion team to claim a NHL title
The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers in game five to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in the franchise's six-year history.
A 9-3 home victory for Vegas on Tuesday sealed the best-of-seven championship series 4-1.
Golden Knights captain Mark Stone scored three goals while goaltender Adin Hill made 31 saves.
"I can't even describe the feelings in my stomach right now. Everything you can imagine," said Stone.
"The grind of an 82-game season, four play-off rounds... You grind and you grind and you grind. At the end of the day, we're the last team standing. It's incredible."
Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault, who ended the postseason with 25 points, picked up the Conn Smythe Trophy as he was named the play-offs' Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Nicolas Hague, Alec Martinez, Reilly Smith, Michael Amadio, Ivan Barbashev and Nicolas Roy each scored once for Vegas to add to Stone's hat-trick - the first in the finals since Peter Forsberg's for the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.
The victory for Vegas, who were founded in 2017 as an expansion team, made good on Golden Knights owner Bill Foley's prediction that the team would win a Stanley Cup within their first six seasons.
Foley bought a controlling interest in Premier League football club AFC Bournemouth last December.
Vegas won the first two games of the series at home before claiming the second game played in Florida.
Florida, who received the final wildcard for the play-off, had defeated three of the NHL's top four teams on their way to their first Stanley Cup final since 1996.
"We were swinging out of our weight class in the play-offs," said Panthers coach Paul Maurice.
"We hit four teams that had 110 points plus. One had 135. It's not an excuse, we don't need one. These guys have earned the right. They gave everything they had."
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