NHL Morning Skate: Stanley Cup Final Edition – May 31, 2023

May 30, 2023

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* The southernmost Stanley Cup Final in NHL history pits the Golden Knights against the Panthers, with Game 1 slated for Saturday in Las Vegas at 8 p.m. ET. It will open the first-ever Final televised on TNT, with the contest also carried on TBS and truTV in the U.S. as well as on Sportsnet, CBC and TVA Sports in Canada.

* Florida and Vegas reached the Final for the second time in franchise history, with the Panthers defeating three of the League’s four highest-seeded teams and the Golden Knights eliminating four 100-point players en route to clinching a berth in the championship series.

* There are several notable connections between the franchises, including Jack Eichel set to square off with his ex-teammate Sam Reinhart as well as Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault and Nick Cousins facing their former franchises.

CLUBS SET TO CLASH IN SECOND “SUN BELT” STANLEY CUP FINAL

The Panthers and Golden Knights will contest the League’s second Stanley Cup Final involving two “Sun Belt” teams and first since 2020 when Carter Verhaeghe and the Lightning squared off with the Stars in the neutral-site bubble at Rogers Place. The 2023 Final will also mark the second to feature franchises that joined the NHL in the 1990s or later, following the 2007 championship series between the Ducks and Senators.

* Florida, which ousted three of the NHL’s four highest-seeded teams in Boston, Carolina and Toronto, now faces Vegas which concluded the regular season atop the Western Conference and fifth place in the League standings overall. The Panthers will be the first team in NHL history to face four of the League’s five highest-seeded teams from the regular season during a single playoff year.

* Vegas has eliminated four 100-point players from the regular season en route to reaching the Final (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Jason Robertson & Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) and will need to defeat one more in Matthew Tkachuk to win its first Cup in franchise history. The Golden Knights became the first team to eliminate four or more 100-point scorers in a postseason since the Canadiens (6) and Islanders (4) in 1993.

VEGAS, FLORIDA BACK IN FINAL AFTER REACHING CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES IN 2018, 1996
The 2023 Stanley Cup Final will mark the sixth in the NHL’s modern era (since 1943-44) where both franchises are seeking their first championship, with the Golden Knights and Panthers involved in two of the five previous series over that span (also 2007, 1999 & 1991).

2018 Stanley Cup Final (WSH 4, VGK 1)

* William Karlsson and Reilly Smith scored a goal during Vegas’ 6-4 victory in Game 1, but the Golden Knights dropped each of the next four contests as their historic inaugural season ended with Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals capturing their first championship. Karlsson and Smith are two of the six current Vegas players that dressed at least one game with the Golden Knights during the series (also William Carrier, Jonathan Marchessault, Brayden McNabb & Shea Theodore), while Chandler Stephenson skated all five contests with the Capitals.

1996 Stanley Cup Final (COL 4, FLA 0)

* Florida fell in four games to Colorado, which had its championship-clinching goal scored by Uwe Krupp at 4:31 of the third overtime in Game 4 to complete the sweep and end the Panthers’ historic playoff run during their first trip to the postseason. John Vanbiesbrouck logged a franchise-record shutout sequence of 141:31 from Joe Sakic’s go-ahead goal at 3:00 of the second period in Game 3 to Krupp’s clincher, with Sergei Bobrovsky nearly matching the mark during the 2023 Conference Finals (133:11 from Game 2-4).

FINAL FEATURES EICHEL FACING FORMER SABRES TEAMMATE REINHART

The 2023 Stanley Cup Final features no shortage of notable connections, including Jack Eichel going head-to-head with an ex-teammate as well as Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault and Nick Cousins facing their former franchises. Click here to view more ties between the Golden Knights and Panthers.

* Eichel and Sam Reinhart skated 368 games together with the Sabres from 2015-16 to 2020-21. They will be the seventh pair of players in the last half-century to go head-to-head in a Final after appearing in 350-plus regular-season games as teammates.

* Smith skated 162 regular-season and six playoff games with the Panthers from 2015-16 to 2016-17 and was traded to Vegas by Florida on June 21, 2017, while Marchessault played 75 contests with the Panthers in 2016-17 before being claimed by Vegas from Florida in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. Marchessault (30-33—63 in 83 GP) and Smith (16-47—63 in 83 GP) went on to become the Golden Knights’ all-time leaders in playoff scoring.