NHL
Las Vegas wins the Stanley Cup and is champion for the first time
NHL stars Vegas Golden Knights celebrate with Stanley Cup after beating Florida Panthers 9-3. photo
©John Locher/AP
The Vegas Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup for the first time in their club history – and that in only the sixth year of their existence. In the last game of the final series, they even set an NHL record.
The Vegas Golden Knights have won the NHL’s Stanley Cup. The US team from Las Vegas was crowned champion of the North American ice hockey league for the first time in club history: the Golden Knights won the final series against the Florida Panthers 4-1 after victories. On Tuesday (local time), head coach Bruce Cassidy’s team clinched the decisive victory in the best-of-seven series with a furious 9: 3 (2: 0, 4: 1, 3: 2) home win.
With nine goals, the Golden Knights set the 81-year-old NHL Finals record. Only the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942 and the Detroit Red Wings in 1936 had also netted nine times in a Stanley Cup game in league history.
Mark Stone scored three times, the Canadian national striker gave Las Vegas a 1-0 lead in the middle of the first period and later scored two more goals. However, the hosts really got going in the second half: they scored four goals within ten minutes and took a decisive lead to 6:1. Jonathan Marchessault didn’t score a goal this time, but with 13 goals and 12 assists in the finals, Las Vegas’ top scorer was named playoff’s most valuable player.
Formed in 2017, the Vegas Golden Knights were capping just their sixth NHL season with the championship after losing the Finals in their debut season. A team in the North American ice hockey league has never won its first title so quickly. The previous record was held by the Philadelphia Flyers, who celebrated their first championship in their seventh season in 1973/74.