Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky will face a deep lineup of Vegas Golden Knights top scorers when the Stanley Cup Final begins Saturday between both clubs seeking a first-ever NHL title.
Each team reached the best-of-seven championship series for the second time in its history, Florida being swept by Colorado in 1996 and the Golden Knights falling to Washington in their 2018 inaugural campaign.
“To get to this point, we know how hard you have to work and we all know there’s another big series coming up,” Bobrovsky said.
The upstart Panthers were the last team to qualify for the playoffs with a late-season charge. Florida then ousted a Boston team that set an NHL wins record, dispatched Toronto in five games and swept Carolina in the Eastern Conference final.
Bobrovsky, a backup until entering game three against Boston, backstopped Florida’s rally from 3-1 down to a seven-game victory. The 34-year-old Russian is 11-2 in the playoffs with a 2.21 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage.
He will be tested in the final by a Vegas lineup that has seen solid scoring from every line.
William Karlsson has scored 10 goals in the playoffs while Jonathan Marchessault added nine, Chandler Stephenson netted eight and Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev each scored six.
“It’s a great opportunity for our group,” Eichel said. “You need things to go your way and you need to play good hockey at the right time. We’re playing some pretty good hockey right now. Just really proud to be part of the group.”
Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy saw his team rout Dallas 6-0 in the Western Conference final clincher.
“It was our best game of the playoffs and it was a good time to have it,” Cassidy said. “So the work we’ve put in came through and that’s what we expect to happen in the final.”
Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov spark the Panthers scoring while Florida center Eric Staal, who plays alongside his brother Marc, hopes to win a Cup as he did with Carolina in 2006.
“Unique circumstances personally, but I’m right where I’m supposed to be,” Eric Staal said. “It’s very special and the opportunity is one you need to cherish and enjoy.”
Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill went between the Vegas pipes after Laurent Brossoit was injured in the second round and has sparkled, going 7-3 with a 2.07 goals-against average and .937 save percentage.
Six players return for Vegas from the first final run, including Marchessault, Karlsson, William Carrier and Reilly Smith plus defensemen Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore.
“Our team is more mature than that first year,” Carrier said. “We showed up there and happy for the opportunity, but this team wants to win. We won’t be finished until we raise that Cup.”
Several Golden Knights have done it with other clubs. Vegas defeseman Alex Pietrangelo and Barbashev won the Cup with St. Louis in 2019 while backup goaltender Jonathan Quick and defenseman Alec Martinez won it with Los Angeles in 2012 and 2014, Phil Kessel won it with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017 and Stephenson took it with Washington in 2018.
“You hope it works to our advantage,” Cassidy said.
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