Vegas Golden Knights 5 Florida Panthers 2 LIVE RESULT – NHL Stanley Cup Final 2023 Game 1 reaction
Staal over substance
Eric Staal scored a short-handed goal and Anthony Duclair also scored for Florida, which had an eight-game road winning streak snapped. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 33 shots.
Staal said there was no panic in the Florida locker room after dropping Game 1.
After all, the Panthers also lost the opener in their first-round series with Boston and came back from a 3-1 deficit to stun the Presidents' Trophy winners in seven games.
“It's part of this time of year.
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“That's how it works. You get yourself off the mat and be excited for the challenge of Game 2.
“That's what our focus will be. We'll do it right and prepare and get ready for the next one."
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“It's the first game," Bobrovsky added. "It's a long series. Lots of hockey ahead of us. We play, we learn, and we move on.”
Five different goal scorers for Vegas
En route to their first victory of the Stanley Cup Finals, five Golden Knights put the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky.
One goal was an empty net goal, but putting four shots past Bobrovsky is no small feat.
Jonathan Marchessault scored goal number 10 of the postseason and was joined by Captain Mark Stone on the scoresheet.
Also scoring was defenseman Shea Theodore and Zach Whitecould.
Reilly Smith put in the empty net goal.
Florida seeking first championship
Like the Vegas Golden Knights, the Panthers are also seeking their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
The Panthers first joined the league 30 years ago in 1993 and are making their second Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
They first appeared in the Stanley Cup three years after joining the NHL in 1996, but were swept by the Colorado Avalanche.
The Panthers have a great chance to win the cup, but dropping game one puts the odds against them.
Florida has a chance to right the ship in Game 2 on Monday, June 5.
Vegas seeking first championship
The Vegas Golden Knights first joined the NHL in 2017 and were the first major sports franchise to represent Las Vegas.
On May 20 in their inaugural season, Vegas defeated the Winnipeg Jets to win the Western Conference Finals in five games, becoming the third NHL team to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in its first season.
After falling in the finals the first time, now the Knights have a 1-0 lead against the Panthers seeking the first championship in franchise history.
Jonathan Marchessault, a former Panther, helped lead Vegas to a Game 1 victory, scoring once.
Vegas is three games away from their first Stanley Cup.
Who is commentating the Stanley Cup Finals?
The play-by-play voice of the Stanley Cup Finals on TNT is Kenny Albert.
Albert is joined by analysts Eddie Olczyk and Keith Jones.
Also joining them as reporters are Darren Pang and Jackie Redmond.
When is the next game?
The schedule for the next Stanley Cup Finals games are:
- Game 2 is Monday, June 5
- Game 3 is Thursday, June 8
- Game 4 is Saturday, June 10
- Game 5 is Tuesday, June 13
- Game 6 is Friday, June 16
- Game 7 is Monday, June 19
