Like The Heat, The Vegas Golden Knights Made It Abundantly Clear They Weren't Blowing A 3-0 Conference Finals Lead

BOOOOOOOM. The Vegas Golden Knights made a statement to say the least. Conference Finals appearances in four of their six seasons (counting that weird realignment thing from the COVID year, btw), and now a crack at the Stanley Cup for a second time in their young but accomplished franchise history. The only team that stands in their way is the Florida Panthers. 

So strange that the Panthers were like the Heat — the last team in the Eastern Conference to secure a playoff berth, only to run all the way to the biggest stage in their respective sports.

Tonight, it was the Knights' turn to take after #HEATCulture. Having already dropped two in a row with Game 6 back in Dallas, Vegas fans had to be feeling apprehensive. Even with a potential decider back in Sin City, it's hard to quell the momentum when you've blown a 3-0 lead.

...But it never even got to that point, because the Golden Knights laid the Stars the absolute fuck out. Complete ass-kicking from start to finish. Shots on goal were 15-4 by the time Keegan Kolesar stretched the visitors' lead to 3-0 with six minutes left in the opening period. Dallas was flat the whole night. Pretty shocking display in front of the home fans to be honest.

Adin Hill's 23-save shutout earned him top star honors, while William Karlsson's two goals for Vegas led the charge offensively.

One of the better performances of the night actually came from the Golden Knights' Twitter handler. My goodness. Ethering the poor Sharks for bandwagoning, and trolling the hell out of the Stars — who, to be fair, gave Vegas a good scare there.

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Now we're guaranteed a first-time Stanley Cup champion. The last time that happened was when the Knights faced the Capitals in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final(s) and I struggle to recall when else that's been the case in recent memory. I pulled out the plural parentheses because I have no clue what the right style is. No consistency across any media. It's annoying as hell but fun to poke fun at as well. Just be like the NBA and say "FINALS"…is that so hard? Or is it like something where you're trying to cheekily distinguish yourselves, NHL? I don't get it. Make it stop.

Special teams are always a huge story in any matchup, but for this one in particular, the Panthers' power play has been on fire most of the playoffs. Vegas is only killing off man advantages at 63%, which you'd have to think is going to give Florida a big edge. Then again, the Knights have been better at staying out in front on the scoreboard (43.8% time leading). Sort-of-almost blown 3-0 disaster notwithstanding.

The Panthers are such a fun, full-send forechecking group, and when Vegas matches that sort of intensity, they're hard to beat. Should be an epic showdown with two piping-hot goalies in Hill and Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky playing the best hockey of his career at age 34.

Buckle up: THE STANLEY CUP FINAL(S) IS/ARE HERE LFGGGGG.

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Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok