LAS VEGAS — The Florida Panthers were defiant and they had every right to be. They were up against elimination and stuck playing without Matthew Tkachuk, and still they truly believed they could beat the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, extend their season and underdog story for at least a few more days, and eventually pull off one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the Stanley Cup Final, just as they had already done by just making it there.
They did what they were supposed to for about 12 minutes. The Panthers peppered Adin Hill with shots and Radko Gudas even tried to rattle the Golden Knights goaltender by stopping short and spraying ice into his face on one of his first shifts of the game. They killed off a power play and got one of their own. They dialed up one perfect play, only for Hill to rob Aleksander Barkov and then it all fell apart. Vegas scored a short-handed goal and then an even-strength goal less than two minutes later. In the end, the Golden Knights did what they were supposed to do and blew out Florida, 8-3, in Las Vegas to win their first Stanley Cup.
One of the great runs in the history of the Stanley Cup playoffs is over. The Panthers, after sneaking into the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs as the lowest seeded team in the last week of the regular season and making it all the way to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, lost their final series 4-1. The Golden Knights are champions for the first time.
