This was the second Finals appearance for the Panthers. Their only previous appearance was in 1996, which Florida lost in a four-game sweep to the Colorado Avalanche.[3]
The Panthers finished with a 42–32–8 record, grabbing the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference with 92 points, the lowest point total of any playoff team. The Panthers mounted a 3–1 series comeback against the record-setting, Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in the First Round, defeating them in a seventh game overtime.[14] They then eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games during the Second Round and the Carolina Hurricanes in a four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference Final.[15][16] The Panthers are the fourth eighth seed to reach the Finals, following the Edmonton Oilers in 2006, the Los Angeles Kings in 2012, and the Nashville Predators in 2017.[17]
The Panthers' Finals appearance is the fourth in a row for a Florida-based team, following three consecutive appearances by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
This was Vegas's second Finals appearance. Their only previous appearance was in 2018, during their inaugural season, which they lost to the Washington Capitals in five games.[18]
The Golden Knights finished first in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference with 111 points via a 51–22–9 record. Vegas defeated the Winnipeg Jets in five games during the First Round,[28] triumphed over the Edmonton Oilers during the Second Round in six games,[29] and knocked off the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final in six games.[30]
In game one, Florida began the scoring with a shorthanded rush by Anton Lundell and Eric Staal, which the latter scored on a wrap-around attempt, banking the puck in off of Adin Hill's blocker glove. Vegas tied the game on a separate power play with Chandler Stephenson setting up Jonathan Marchessault's wrist shot beating Sergei Bobrovsky. In the second period, Shea Theodore's long range shot found its way past Bobrovsky, giving Vegas a 2–1 lead. With ten seconds remaining and a faceoff in the Golden Knights zone, the Panther's Anthony Duclair picked up a loose puck and fired a wrist shot past Hill to make it 2–2. In the third period, the Golden Knights led a rush into the Panther's zone with a shot by Ivan Barbashev deflecting off the glass back to Zach Whitecloud who scored for Vegas to make it 3–2. Later in the period, an errant clear by the Panthers got knocked down by Vegas captain Mark Stone who shot it past Bobrovsky for a 4–2 lead. Florida challenged the play as Stone's stick could have been above his shoulders, which would have been a stoppage of play. Florida was unsuccessful in their challenge and assessed a minor penalty. With frustrations boiling over for Florida, both Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett were called for misconducts for attempting to fight some of the Golden Knights. Reilly Smith then sealed Vegas' victory with an empty net goal to make it 5–2. The victory broke Florida's road-winning streak at eight games.[31]
In the first period of game two, the Golden Knights scored first on the power play as Jonathan Marchessault shot through a screen to beat the Florida goaltender over the shoulder. Later in the period, with Vegas in possession in the Florida zone, Alec Martinez shot through Josh Mahura's legs and the puck went to the top of the net for a 2–0 lead. During the second period, Nicolas Roy gave Vegas a 3–0 lead, shooting the puck under Sergei Bobrovsky's blocker. Brett Howden then forced Florida to swap goaltenders scoring forehand-backhand on Vegas's thirteenth shot. Following a hit on Jack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk and Ivan Barbashev both exchanged misconduct penalties for fighting after the whistle. In the third period, the Panthers ended Adin Hill's shutout bid as a defensive turnover by the Golden Knights ended with Anton Lundell's goal. Vegas regained their four-goal lead as the Golden Knights pushed into the Panthers' zone and an all-alone Marchessault wristed a shot past Alex Lyon. Michael Amadio then provided the sixth goal for Vegas, deking out Lyon for a 6–1 lead. Tkachuk then brought the lead back down to four as his wrist shot beat Hill on the right side. Later in the period with Florida releasing their frustration, Vegas gained a power play. During the power play, Howden's second goal of the game ended any hopes of a Florida comeback, scoring to give Vegas a 7–2 lead, also the final score of the game.[32]
Back in Florida for game three, Brandon Montour began the scoring for the Panthers in the first period as his shot through traffic beat Adin Hill over the shoulder. Vegas was able to tie the game during a 4-on-3 power play when Jonathan Marchessault's shot got tipped in by Mark Stone. In the second period, Vegas gained another power play, during which Jack Eichel passed across to Marchessault who beat Sergei Bobrovsky on the right post for a 2–1 Golden Knights lead. In the third period, with the Florida goaltender pulled for an extra attacker, Matthew Tkachuk scored on a deflection to tie the game 2–2. With the game in overtime, Carter Verhaeghe fired a wrist shot past Hill giving Florida a 3–2 victory and their first win in the Stanley Cup Finals in franchise history.[33]
In game four, Vegas began the scoring 1:39 into the first period as Zach Whitecloud made cross-ice pass to Chandler Stephenson who maneuvered through all Florida defenders and shot the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky. Stephenson continued his scoring into the second period as a pass by Mark Stone found its way to the forward whose wrist shot beat Bobrovsky for a 2–0 Vegas lead. Following soon after, William Karlsson picked up Nicolas Hague's rebound shot and gave the Golden Knights a 3–0 lead. With less than four minutes remaining in the period, Florida defenceman Brandon Montour shot the puck at the net and it deflected off Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore past Adin Hill to cut Vegas's lead to two goals. Florida then cut their deficit to one goal as the Panthers rushed into the Vegas zone, Montour backhanded a pass to captain Aleksander Barkov whose short-side shot got past Hill. Vegas maintained their 3–2 lead including fending off a late penalty as Hill stopped 29 of 31 shots to give the Golden Knights a 3–1 series lead.[34]
In game five, the Golden Knights began the scoring on a shorthanded rush as Mark Stone outwaited Sergei Bobrovsky to beat him on the glove side. The Golden Knights doubled their lead as Jack Eichel's shot bumped over Bobrovsky's shoulder and got covered, but was quickly poked away. With the free puck, Nicolas Hague scored for Vegas. The Panthers made it 2–1 early in the second period as Nick Cousins forced a turnover in the Vegas defensive zone and passed it to defenceman Aaron Ekblad whose long range shot made its way into the net. The Golden Knights recovered their two-goal lead as a stretch pass by Alex Pietrangelo made its way to Eichel who then dropped a pass to Alec Martinez and he shot it past Bobrovsky. Reilly Smith soon gave the Golden Knights a 4–1 lead as the Panthers were maintaining a defensive position with one player without a stick and Smith converted on a quick rebound. Stone's second goal made it 5–1 as he led a rush into the Panthers' zone, shooting the puck between Bobrovsky's pads for his second goal of the game. Michael Amadio extended the Golden Knights lead to 6–1 with two seconds remaining as he pushed the puck towards Panthers goaltender and as he was pushed into the net by a Panther defenceman, the puck found its way under Bobrovsky and into the net. In the third period, Vegas pushed the game into a rout scoring their seventh of the game when Ivan Barbashev scored. Florida brought their deficit down to five when a quick shot by Sam Reinhart hit the top corner past Adin Hill. Sam Bennett then dropped Florida's deficit to four goals as his long range shot got deflected into the net. With more than six minutes remaining in the game, Florida head coach Paul Maurice opted to for an empty net. However, Stone scored on the empty net to complete his hat trick, making it 8–3. Nicolas Roy potted Vegas's ninth goal of the evening with 1:02 remaining to seal the Golden Knights victory and their first Stanley Cup.[35]
This is the first time since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began, that both the Cup Finals and the NBA Finals roughly coincide during the first weeks of June. As with prior years since at least 2016 when both leagues hold their respective championship series at roughly the same time, games of the Cup Finals are scheduled on different days than those of the 2023 NBA Finals, typically on the day prior to or after the other league's games.[36]
In the United States, the series is being televised by TNT, marking the first time that the Stanley Cup Finals have not aired in part on U.S. broadcast television since 1994. As is common for other major events broadcast by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, all games are airing in simulcast across multiple Turner Broadcasting channels, including TBS (except for games held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays due to MLB on TBS Tuesday Night and AEW Dynamite respectively) and TruTV.[38]
