NHL Postseason- Stanley Cup Final Review & Postseason Awards

Two months of battling culminated in two franchises meeting in the Stanley Cup Final in pursuit of their first Stanley Cup win. The Florida Panthers made quick work of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final, sweeping the series with four one-goal wins. The Vegas Golden Knights advanced to their second Stanley Cup Final in their six-year history after taking down the Dallas Stars in six games. The Panthers would be coming in after a long layoff, while Vegas was a little more battle-tested. A first-time champion was going to be guaranteed, meaning one franchise was going to finally become known as a championship city. 

Stanley Cup Final- Florida Panthers v. Vegas Golden Knights (Vegas wins 4-1)

Game 1- Vegas 5, Florida 2- The opening game of the series featured some good back-and-forth action for two periods before becoming one-sided in the third. The Panthers opened the scoring while short-handed as veteran Eric Staal buried a wrap-around to silence the Vegas crowd. Former Panther and original misfit Jonathan Marchessault would put some life back into the crowd by finishing a pass from Jack Eichel late in the period to send it to the intermission tied. Adin Hill kept it tied less than a minute into the second period with the save of the postseason with a beautiful paddle save on Nick Cousins. Shea Theodore broke the tie just past the midway point in the period with a wrister from the point. Anthony Duclair tied it up with 10.2 seconds left in the period to send it to the third tied once again. The third period was all Vegas. Zach Whitecloud snapped one past Sergei Bobrovsky, Mark Stone knocked a puck out of midair and put another one home, and Reilly Smith scored into the empty net to put away a decisive victory in Game 1. 

Game 2- Vegas 7, Florida 2- It turned into a serious shooting gallery in Game 2 for the Golden Knights against Sergei Bobrovsky. Jonathan Marchessault scored another goal on the power play to get things going early in the game and Alec Martinez added to the lead late in the first period to make it 2-0. Nicolas Roy got another one early in the second period and Brett Howden scored a pretty goal around Bobrovsky as Vegas held a strong 4-0 lead after 40 minutes. At this point, it felt like it was over. Anton Lundell got a lucky bounce to break the shutout, but Marchessault responded just under two minutes later to get the goal back. Michael Amadio piled it on to make it 6-1. Matthew Tkachuk put home a rebound to make it look a little closer before the fireworks began. Over 100 minutes of penalties would be handed out in the final six minutes of the game as the two teams started to go at each other after every whistle. Howden picked up his second of the game late in the game as the Golden Knights took a demanding 2-0 series lead after defending home ice. 

Game 3- Florida 3, Vegas 2 (OT)- The series moved to Florida as the Panthers hosted their first Stanley Cup Final game since 1996. They treated their fans to an early lead as Brandon Montour scored just over four minutes into the game. Vegas would get the goal back late in the period on the power play as Mark Stone redirected a shot between the legs of Sergei Bobrovsky to tie things up. Bobrovsky made one of his biggest saves of the series on Brett Howden in the second period, sticking out his blocker to rob him. The Vegas power play struck again late in the period as Jonathan Marchessault scored his fourth goal of the series to give Vegas their sixth goal in the series on the man advantage. This lead stood for most of the third period before Florida pulled Bobrovsky. As he'd done the entire postseason, Matthew Tkachuk deposited a rebound past Adin Hill with 2:13 left to force overtime. You might as well have ended it then because the Panthers are impossible to beat in overtime. That would be the case again tonight as Carter Verhaeghe scored his fourth overtime goal for Florida and would get them their first-ever win in the Stanley Cup Final. 

Game 4- Vegas 3, Florida 2- With the Panthers back in the series, it was time for them to capitalize on their momentum. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case. Chandler Stephenson would bury a breakaway 1:39 into the game to kickstart a strong night from him. Stephenson would score again in the second period and William Karlsson would add to the lead to make it 3-0. Florida tried to scratch their way back into the game from there. Brandon Montour would get a very good bounce as his shot redirected into the net after hitting two Vegas players to cut the deficit to two goals. Aleksander Barkov made it 3-2 early in the third period, giving the Panthers plenty of time to find the equalizer. It would never come as the Golden Knights' defense suffocated the Panthers. The final horn would sound and after some fisticuffs between the two sides and the dust settled, the Golden Knights sat needing just one more win to reach the promised land. 

Game 5- Vegas 9, Florida 3- When Matthew Tkachuk was announced to be out for the game, the writing seemed to be on the wall for the Florida Panthers. Things sat scoreless until Mark Stone broke the deadlock with a short-handed marker and Nicolas Hague scored shortly after to put Vegas up 2-0 through 20 minutes. Florida came out of the locker room with some momentum, getting an early goal from Aaron Ekblad to cut the lead to one, but Vegas played arguably the most dominant ten minutes of the postseason in response. Alec Martinez, nine years after his game-winning goal to clinch the Stanley Cup for the Kings in 2014, got the goal back. Reilly Smith finished a nearly two-minute shift with a goal. Stone got his second of the night. Michael Amaddio got one last one with two seconds left to take a 6-1 lead into the third period with just 20 minutes to go. Ivan Barbashev added some salt to the wound and though Florida did get two back, Stone would finish the hat trick into an empty net, and Nicolas Roy truly killed the Panthers as Vegas earned their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. 

Three Stars of the Series

3- Mark Stone (VGK)- 5 goals, 4 assists

2- Adin Hill (VGK)- 4-1, .923 SV%, 2.36 GAA

1- Jonathan Marchessault (VGK)- 4 goals, 4 assists

Final Thoughts for the Stanley Cup Final

• I'm not sure what happened to the Panthers in this series. All of their magic was gone. I think Vegas had a lot to do with that but it felt like we were watching a completely different team. A healthy Matthew Tkachuk doesn't save Florida in Game 5. The fact that he played two games with a broken sternum is remarkable. Vegas dominated all aspects of this series and even though Florida won a game, it doesn't really feel like they did. There are so many great storylines with Vegas winning the series. Jonathan Marchessault winning the Conn Smythe felt like vindication against his former team. Reilly Smith scoring the series-winning goal felt the same. Jack Eichel lifting a Stanley Cup after his entire debacle with Buffalo was also awesome. Then, you get guys like Jonathan Quick and Phil Kessel winning their third Stanley Cup. Bruce Cassidy going from a 50-win team last season in Boston to another 50-win team and winning the Stanley Cup has to feel good too. Vegas truly earned this championship, going 16-6 in four rounds, and never being on the brink of elimination. There's no doubt who the most deserving team was. 

Playoff Superlatives

Most Disappointing Team- New York Rangers

There were three teams that I considered for this spot. While Colorado and Tampa Bay could've easily been here too, I'm going with the Rangers. When teams are aggressive at the trade deadline, they are gearing up for a big run in the postseason. Adding guys like Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane means you have faith in your team. They really started well, dominating the New Jersey Devils on the road in Games 1 and 2. After that, the well ran dry. They lost four of the next five games and while they put up five goals in Game 6 to force a Game 7, they were shut out twice. The offense was non-existent and while Akira Schmid had a little to do with it, the finish wasn't there. New York made a lot of noise and went out with a whimper. 

Most Disappointing Player- Kirill Kaprizov (MIN)

I was very compelled to put Andrei Vasilevskiy here after finishing in the bottom ten among goalies in GAA and save percentage. Instead, I'm picking a sniper that really couldn't find the back of the net. Kirill Kaprizov had an interesting season, but this postseason was not a good one for him. He only scored one goal, his only point of the first round against Dallas. I'm not saying that Minnesota wins their series with the Stars if he scores more but considering the Wild only scored three goals in three games after taking a 2-1 series lead, it certainly wouldn't have hurt. 

Worst Series- Carolina v. New Jersey (2nd Round)

This is no disrespect to either team but I think we were all expecting a tighter series after the two teams fought to the very end of the season for the division crown. In reality, it was four blowouts and an overtime contest in Game 5. Carolina really took it to the Devils, getting rid of them in short order. The only other series that I would really consider for this spot is the Stanley Cup Final. I'm not sure I've ever seen a more lopsided final in my lifetime, though the 2021 Final would be close behind. The Devils seemed to have given it their all in the first round before crashing hard. 

Most Surprising Team- Seattle Kraken

If we're being completely honest, the right answer is the Florida Panthers, but we've talked a lot about their run and I think Seattle deserves a ton of credit. With Florida, they are a year removed from winning the President's Trophy and have a ton of star power. Seattle's rise to the postseason came out of nowhere. They don't have a major star in the league just yet and still somehow defeated the defending champions and took the Dallas Stars to Game 7 in their second season. Their 40-point improvement in their second season was already amazing. The Kraken have set themselves up to be a great team in a division that is usually up for grabs. This could be just the beginning for Seattle. 

Most Surprising Player- Adin Hill (VGK)

Vegas came into the postseason with Laurent Brossoit as their starter and he was very good against Winnipeg. However, he struggled in two games against Edmonton in the second round, opening the door for Adin Hill to get his first-ever postseason action. After he came in for an injured Brossoit in Game 3 against the Oilers, the net was all his. Hill finished the postseason with an 11-4 and led the postseason with a .932 save percentage. Hill also made some amazing stops during this run, none bigger than his Game 1 stop on Nick Cousins. 

Best Game- ECF, Game 1- Florida 3, Carolina 2 (4OT)

This could be taking the easy route by just picking the longest game of the postseason, but did anyone else watch this entire game? I watched every save from Sergei Bobrovsky and Frederik Andersen as the Panthers and the Hurricanes went save-for-save deep into the night and early into the morning as they helped to rewrite history. This game helped to set the tone for how tight this series was going to be. It also gave us a glimpse into the future. Florida would win the game in four straight, but that doesn't paint an accurate picture of the closeness of the fight. 

Best Series- Florida v. Boston (1st Round)

If not for one very bad mistake by Linus Ullmark in Game 5 of this series, we might not have gotten a Cinderella run from the Panthers. Boston was in complete control of the series, leading 3-1 and needing one goal to advance to the second round. Instead, Ullmark turned the puck over, Matthew Tkachuk forced a Game 6, and set in motion the events that would lead to one of the biggest upsets in NHL history. Florida put up seven goals in Game 6 to push the series back to Boston, Brandon Montour forced overtime with a late goal in regulation in Game 7, and Carter Verhaeghe stunned the Bruins in overtime to complete the comeback. The first round was nuts and this was the very peak of it. 

Final Thoughts

If we're being honest with ourselves, the last two rounds of the playoffs were a bit underwhelming. The most interesting was Dallas potentially coming back from a 3-0 hole, only for that to be thwarted in Game 6 by Vegas. Otherwise, Florida made quick work of Carolina in the Eastern Conference Final before the same happened to them in the Stanley Cup Final. The first two rounds had a lot more intrigue to them. We got to see some shocking upsets, including the defending champs and the greatest regular-season team of all time, and some teams reaching their potential a lot sooner than expected. We also saw a lot of games make it to overtime with the Panthers going a perfect 7-0. Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe had a lot to do with that. Tkachuk was already a superstar and he made it even clearer during these playoffs. He finished tied for third in goals (11) and points (24), with a lot of his goals coming late in the third period or overtime. 

We also saw a lot of very good performances from goalies that came out of nowhere. Akira Schmid came out of nowhere to get the Devils into the second round. Frederik Andersen proved why Carolina thought so highly of him when they signed him two offseasons ago. Sergei Bobrovsky had a career resurgence through three rounds. Adin Hill was a serious contender for the Conn Smythe, leading the league in save percentage. They all have one thing in common too. None of them was their team's starter for Game 1 of the first round. All of them waited their turn and took control of the net, leading their team to at least one series win. The playoffs were also chock-full of amazing storylines too. Florida and Seattle controlled a lot of the early headlines with their big upsets in the first round. Seattle's run ended in the second round with a seven-game loss to Dallas, while Florida continued their run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. The Maple Leafs were on the right side of history for once as they broke their 19-year drought by beating Tampa Bay in the first round, only to be dismantled in the second round. We got to see a Staal family reunion in the Eastern Conference Final with the three brothers fighting for a spot in the finals. 

At the end of the day, Vegas rose above the other teams in the postseason and dominated their way to the Stanley Cup. It was six years in the making after their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season in 2017-18. Only six players from that original team remained on this year's team, but it was all of the work that they did in the meantime, signing big names and making big trades, that really paid off for them in the end. They took a chance on Jack Eichel despite his major injury and a big surgery. They shelled out the money to guys like Mark Stone and Alex Pietrangelo. They trusted the pieces they had in place from the very beginning. Most importantly, they trusted their own goaltending carousel would work itself out in the postseason and it eventually did. They lost only six games and only had five one-goal wins in the postseason. They used all of their depth to get the job done. 20 different players recorded a point, 18 players scored a goal, and 12 players had at least ten points. Everyone contributed en route to the first Stanley Cup victory in franchise history. Vegas is now in the club of Stanley Cup champions.