Vegas Golden Knights defeat Florida Panthers to win 2023 Stanley Cup Final

The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers 9-3 in Game 5 on Tuesday night to win the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.

The Golden Knights scored a barrage of goals in the second period, four to be exact, to take a commanding lead and never looked back en route to their first championship in franchise history. Vegas went to the Cup back in its first season in 2017-18, losing to the Washington Capitals. The Golden Knights missed the playoffs last season but brought in former Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy to take over behind the bench. That led to a title very quickly.

Mark Stone would go on to lead Vegas to the victory with a hat trick, scoring an empty-net goal late in the third period to complete it. Jack Eichel registered three assists in the win and finished with the NHL lead for postseason points with 26. Jonathan Marchesssault, the Conn Smythe favorite entering the game, had an assist with six shots on goal.

The Golden Knights came out hot in the first period, scoring twice to take a 2-0 lead. Stone scored a shorthanded goal after a turnover by the Panthers while trying to get into the offensive zone. Stone went in on a two-on-one and stopped in front of the net before scoring on Sergei Bobrovsky.

On the second goal, Eichel started the play by backhanding a shot on goal that appeared to be saved by Bobrovsky. There was a bit of a scramble in front of the net before Nicolas Hague cleaned up the rebound in front to put Vegas up by two goals.

The Panthers clawed back (sorry) in the second period with a goal from Aaron Ekblad to make it 2-1. Ekblad scored on a snap shot from the point that was able to sneak through traffic in front of Adin Hill and into the back of the net. It wasn’t too long before the Knights were able to strike again.

Vegas made it 3-1 with a goal from Alec Martinez off a pass from Eichel. Martinez isn’t a stranger to big goals, having scored the OT winner in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final for the Los Angeles Kings over the New York Rangers.

Reilly Smith would put the Golden Knights up 4-1 with a goal from William Karlsson and Shea Theodore and the rout was on. After the shot from around the point, Karlsson ended up with the puck in front of the net, sending a behind the back, through the legs pass to Smith, who buried the puck.

Stone would get his second of the game to make it 5-1 toward the end of the second period. Just when the Panthers thought things couldn’t get any worse, Michael Amadio made it 6-1 with a goal with a few seconds left in the period. Ivan Barbashev scored to make it 7-1 in the third period.

Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett each scored late in the third period to make it 7-3. Stone completed his hat trick into an empty net to make it 8-3 before Nicolas Roy made it 9-3 with a minute left.

Vegas entered the game heavily favored on the moneyline at -190 and getting most of the betting action on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Golden Knights are +1300 to win the Stanley Cup again in 2023-24.