The Vegas Golden Knights are the 2023 Stanley Cup Champions, beating the Florida Panthers in five games to win their first Cup in only their sixth season.
Before giving my thoughts on this series, here's a brief rundown of each game and how we got here:
Game 1: Golden Knights defeat the Panthers 5-2. Eric Staal opens the scoring in the first period with a shorthanded goal for Florida, while Jonathan Marchessault evened things up later in the first for Vegas. Shea Theodore gave the Knights their first lead of the game in the middle frame. The Panthers had an answer for the Knights late in the second period, evening things up at two via Anthony Duclair. However, it was all Golden Knights in the third period as Vegas added three more goals from Zach Whitecloud, Mark Stone, and Reilly Smith to take further control of Game 1. Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore each recorded two points in the victory. Adin Hill made 33 saves on 35 shots against for the Knights, including an unbelievable paddle stop to rob Nick Cousins while stretching far outside of the crease. On the other hand, Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves on 33 shots against on the losing end.
Game 2: Golden Knights defeat the Panthers 7-2. Total domination by Vegas from the get-go. Jonathan Marchessault and Brett Howden led the way with two goals each, while Alec Martinez, Michael Amadio, and Nicolas Roy each tallied a goal. The only offense that Florida was able to muster up in Game 2 were goals from Anton Lundell and Matthew Tkachuk in the third period. Speaking of Tkachuk, he laid a brutal hit on Jack Eichel near the end of the first period, but fortunately Eichel returned to the game in the following period. Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled about halfway through the second period after surrendering four goals to the Golden Knights, and Alex Lyon took his place in net from there. Adin Hill recorded 29 saves on 31 shots against in the victory for Vegas.
Game 3: Panthers defeat the Golden Knights 3-2 in OT. Florida opened the scoring via Brandon Montour, while Mark Stone and Jonathan Marchessault scored the next two goals to take the lead for the Knights. Matthew Tkachuk tied it for the Panthers with just over two minutes remaining in regulation to force bonus hockey, where the Panthers would win it via Carter Verhaeghe to stay alive in the Final. Sergei Bobrovsky made a total of 25 saves in a great bounceback performance in net for Florida.
Game 4: Golden Knights defeat the Panthers 3-2. Chandler Stephenson led the way with two goals, while William Karlsson was the only other goal-scorer for Vegas. On the other hand, Brandon Montour and Aleksander Barkov were the only goal-scorers for Florida. Adin Hill made saves for the Knights, while Sergei Bobrovsky made saves for the Panthers. Tensions boiled over between the two teams right as the game ended.
Game 5: Golden Knights defeat the Panthers 9-3 to win the Cup. This one was already wrapped up before the end of the second period. Mark Stone recorded a hat trick for Vegas, becoming the first player since 1922 to record a hat trick in the Cup Final. Nic Hague, Alec Martinez, Reilly Smith, Michael Amadio, Ivan Barbashev, and Nicolas Roy were the other goal-scorers for the Knights in their Cup-clinching Game 5, Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart, and Sam Bennett were the only goal-scorers for the Panthers. Adin Hill recorded a total of 32 saves in the Cup-clinching victory for the Knights. Florida suffered a huge blow before the start of Game 5, as Matthew Tkachuk was ruled out due to a broken sternum and Grigori Denisenko taking his place in the Panthers lineup. The Conn Smythe Trophy for Playoffs MVP was awarded to Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault, one of the six original "misfits" to remain with the team since its inception in 2016.
Overall, I am very upset with the end result, find it pretty unfair, and believe that this year's Cup Final was one of the worst ones ever played. Besides Game 3, this year's Cup Final was one-sided and dominated by Vegas. It certainly didn't help that this happened to a bitter rival of the Sharks in only their sixth season, while the Sharks have yet to win a Stanley Cup in their 32+ years of existence and aren't in a position to win one anytime soon. The reality of this entire situation makes me extra salty and want to see the Knights win even less, especially with how they've mishandled some of their assets in a few of their previous seasons. This Stanley Cup victory is great for Knights fans, the Las Vegas area, and the NHL front office, but bad for the rest of the league and the other NHL fanbases besides Seattle. Jack Eichel was a feel-good story coming out of the Knights' Cup victory, having been fed up with the Sabres' lack of success and demanding out of Buffalo after not being able to get the surgery he wanted, to missing the playoffs in his first season in Vegas and having a lot of doubt in his abilities surrounding him throughout much of his NHL career, to winning the Stanley Cup in his second season with the Golden Knights. Adin Hill was traded from the Sharks to the Golden Knights prior to the start of this past season for a fourth-round pick, but no one at the time expected Hill to play out of his mind and help lead the Knights to their first-ever Cup victory. Initially, not much was made of this trade around when it was first processed, but after this end result to this past season, it only rubbed more salt in the wound for the Sharks. Phil Kessel being unable to play for much of this past season due to injuries and fully dressing to celebrate his third Stanley Cup was interesting to say the least.
On the other hand, what an incredible run it has been for the Florida Panthers this past season. They went from just sneaking into the playoffs to knocking off the Presidents' Trophy-winning Bruins in the first round, the Maple Leafs fresh off of their first playoff-series win since 2004 in the second round, and the juggernaut Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final, all the way to their first Cup Final appearance since 1996. Mattew Tkachuk has been on another planet until the Cup Final against Vegas, Sergei Bobrovsky has found his game when it really mattered for the first time in a Panthers uniform, Carter Verhaeghe has been clutch throughout much of this playoff run, among other factors. This Panthers team will be back in the biggest stage and continue to get better going forward.
On a more positive note, in other news, the Sharks recently signed Filip Bystedt, their first-round pick from last year's draft who has yet to make his way to North America, to a three-year entry-level deal. In addition, Sharks legend Patrick Marleau will be inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame, headlining its Class of 2023.
And with that, that wraps up my third season covering the NHL and the Sharks on CPF Hockey! There won't be live hockey again until October, but there will be plenty more to cover between now and then, such as signings, trades, the draft, and free agency, so stay tuned for all your Sharks news and notes all offseason long.
Sources: TNT, NHL App, Curtis Pashelka via Twitter
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