NHL Morning Skate: Stanley Cup Final Edition – June 13, 2023

June 12, 2023

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* The Stanley Cup will be in the building tonight as the Golden Knights look to close out the Final on home ice and clinch their first championship in franchise history.

* Mark Stone, the only player to don the “C” for Vegas in its six seasons, can extend his series-opening point streak and capture the first Cup of his NHL career.

* The Panthers will have to do two things they’ve never done before to keep their 2023 championship dreams alive: win a game in Las Vegas and stave off elimination in the Stanley Cup Final.

VEGAS CAN WIN CUP VIA FOURTH SERIES-CLINCHING VICTORY AT T-MOBILE ARENA

The Golden Knights can win the Stanley Cup at T-Mobile Arena, where they have earned three of their 10 all-time series-clinching victories (Game 5 of 2023 R1, Game 6 of 2021 R2 & Game 7 of 2021 R1). Vegas has closed out five playoff series on the road and two as the designated home team in the neutral-site bubble at Rogers Place during the 2020 postseason.

* Mark Stone (2-4—6 in 4 GP) has found the score sheet in every game during the Final so far, including multiple points in each of his last two contests. His six points in the series are the second most among all players behind Jonathan Marchessault (4-3—7 in 4 GP).

* Stone was named the Golden Knights’ first captain in franchise history on Jan. 13, 2021. He can become the first player to be named the first-ever captain for an NHL franchise and don the “C” when the club won its first Cup since Bill Cook nearly 100 years ago with the 1928 Rangers.

* Adin Hill enters Tuesday with an active shutout sequence of 67:58 in potential series-clinching contests, which includes backstopping the Golden Knights to a 6-0 win in Game 6 of the Conference Finals. He can become the fifth goaltender in NHL history with a series-clinching shutout in the round before the Final and during the Final within a single postseason, following Andrei Vasilevskiy (2021 TBL), Tim Thomas (2011 BOS), Jacques Plante (1960 MTL) and Clint Benedict (1926 MMR).

* Hill has gone 10-4 through the first 15 playoff appearances of his NHL career with a 2.11 goals-against average, .934 save percentage and two shutouts, including a 3-1 mark in the Final (2.21 GAA, .925 SV%).

WHICH FLORIDA PLAYERS CAN FOIL VEGAS’ PLANS OF CLINCHING THE CUP?
Matthew Tkachuk (3-3—6 in 3 GP) and Carter Verhaeghe (1-5—6 in 3 GP) pace the Panthers with six points when facing elimination this postseason, while Tkachuk’s three goals are tied with Brandon Montour (3-1—4 in 3 GP) and Sam Reinhart (3-0—3 in 3 GP) for the team lead. Montour had two of his goals in Game 7 of the First Round, which included scoring the tying tally with 59.3 seconds remaining in regulation before Verhaeghe’s overtime clincher.

* The most points by an NHL player while facing elimination during the Final is five, achieved by Toronto teammates Don Metz (3-2—5) and Syl Apps (2-3—5) in Game 5 of the 1942 championship series. The Panthers are looking to join the 1942 Maple Leafs as the second team in League history to win a Cup after facing a 3-1 series deficit in the Final. The only active players with at least three points in one game while facing elimination during the Final are Tyler Seguin (Game 5 of 2020 SCF), Logan Couture (Game 5 of 2016 SCF) and Brad Marchand (Game 7 of 2011 SCF), who all did so in wins.

* Metz is one of seven players in NHL history with a hat trick while facing elimination during the Final. The only skaters to achieve the feat in the League’s modern era (since 1943-44) are Dirk Graham (Game 4 of 1992 SCF) and Pit Martin (Game 6 of 1973 SCF) nearly 20 years apart with Chicago.

* Eight of the 10 clubs to win Game 5 on the road when facing a 3-1 series deficit in the Final did so by a one-goal margin of victory (including four decided in overtime).

CLUB CORNERSTONES SET TO CONTEST FIRST POTENTIAL CUP-CLINCHING GAME

Golden Knights mainstays William Carrier, William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Brayden McNabb, Reilly Smith and Shea Theodore are set to skate their first potential closeout game in the Stanley Cup Final, but several Vegas players have experience in these contests including defensemen Alec Martinez and Alex Pietrangelo who potted the championship-clinching goal in 2014 and 2019, respectively.

* The most points by an NHL player with a chance to clinch the Cup is five, achieved by Toe Blake (1-4—5) in Game 4 of the 1944 Final – he factored on all five of the Canadiens’ goals including scoring the overtime winner as Montreal overcame a 4-1 third-period deficit to defeat Chicago. The last player to tally at least three points in a potential closeout contest during the Final was Dustin Brown (Game 6 of 2012 SCF) – Martinez and Jonathan Quick’s former Kings teammate – while current Panthers forward Eric Staal (Game 5 of 2006 SCF) also achieved the feat.

* The last players that scored multiple goals with a chance to clinch the Cup were Jeff Carter and Trevor Lewis in Game 6 of the 2012 Final, more former teammates of Martinez and Quick. The only players in League history with a hat trick in that scenario are Babe Dye (Game 5 of 1922 SCF) and Ted Kennedy (Game 4 of 1945 SCF) with Toronto, as well as Jack Darragh (Game 5 of 1920 SCF) with the original Senators.