The Vegas Golden Knights, with a brace from Chandler Stephenson, beat the Florida Panthers (2-3) on Saturday at home in Florida, and now lead 3 to 1 after Game 4 of the NHL Championship Finals. After this meeting, the Golden Knights, who will have the advantage of receiving the Panthers Tuesday in Game 5, are only one victory away from what would be their first Stanley Cup, the trophy rewarding the champion.
The two franchises have never won the title of champion in the NHL. They both failed once in the final, in 2018 against Washington for Vegas, which was then playing its first season in the League, in 1996 against Colorado for the Panthers. “There’s a little more tension when you know it’s the Cup that’s at stake. You just have to try to approach these matches like the others,” Stephenson said after the precious success.
The Canadian center was quick to open the scoring for the Golden Knights after 99 seconds of play, before making it 2-0 with a second personal goal after 7’28” of play in the second period- time. William Karlsson inflated the score to 3-0 in favor of the Knights by scoring less than four minutes later.
Brandon Montour closed the gap at the end of the second quarter, then Aleksander Barkov pulled the hosts to 3-2 with a goal after just 3:49 in the final period. But the Vegas Golden Knights kept the victory, thanks in particular to their goalkeeper Aiden Hill, who made the 28th and last of his saves in the last seconds of the game. “A key win,” Stephenson said.
