The Vegas Golden Knights have reached their ultimate goal just six seasons into the team’s history, lifting the Stanley Cup after a dominant 4-1 series win against the Florida Panthers, the Eastern Conference champions. Despite the team’s brief existence, winning the Cup was a long-awaited accomplishment for Golden Knights fans, as the team has been viewed as having a championship caliber roster virtually every year since the franchise’s inaugural season.
Mark Stone recorded a hat trick in the 9-3 Game 5 win, and his three goals were each iconic in their own unique way. His opening goal gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead, his second gave the team a 5-1 lead to cap an offensive explosion in the second period which left little doubt that the Golden Knights would end the night as champions, and his cross-ice empty net goal in the Golden Knights’ zone may as well have started the party in Vegas as the score reached 8-3 late in the third period.
Jonathan Marchessault is the winner of the 2022-23 Conn Smythe trophy, etching his name into NHL history as a champion and MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, doing so in poetic fashion against his former team, from whom the Golden Knights selected Marchessault in the 2017 expansion draft.
The Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup victory parade is scheduled for Saturday, June 17 on the Las Vegas Strip, beginning at 7 p.m. PST.
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