We Got A Good Old-Fashioned Stanley Cup Brawl Between The Golden Knights And Panthers After Florida's Furious Game 4 Comeback Fell Short
Fists flying. Rats and water bottles littering the ice. Even Vegas Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill getting in the mix after holding off a late two-man advantage from the Panthers, who were furiously attacking the net in a bid for the equalizer.
You really can't get enough good angles of the scene that unfolded at FLA Live Arena:
It was frankly more surprising not to see Matthew Tkachuk get it done late. This man has been clutch as fuck the entire postseason and had the late tying goal in Game 3 to even make this Stanley Cup Final a series. Unfortunately, Florida's upstart underdog narrative took a huge hit on Saturday. Those Cardiac Cats dug themselves a three-goal hole and quite literally ran out of time to force an extra period.
You can't help but be impressed with how good Vegas is playing from in front. Once the Golden Knights light the lamp thrice in an evening in the playoffs, you might as well turn the lights off and save everyone several hours.
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Absolute nails effort from Vegas to steal this one on the road. Their blue-liners and two-way forwards contributed a grand total of 30 blocked shots to Florida's 15. Incredible stuff. Really set up Hill for success between the pipes.
Chandler Stephenson set the tone early, capitalizing on a sloppy Panthers line change to snipe a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky less than two minutes into Game 4.
Stephenson added another goal in the second period, and once William Karlsson found the back of the net minutes later, the Golden Knights were up 3-0. All the momentum began to shift not long before the second stanza intermission, as Brandon Montour's bonkers, one-in-a-million ricochet scenario finally got the hosts on the board:
For as much luck as Montour's initial goal was, this feed he had to set up Aleksander Barkov was an instance of off-the-charts skill:
SHEEEEEEESH. Between that and the fluky first goal, you start to think that the Panthers are gonna tie the series at two and are the classic team of destiny.
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…Alas, that valiant charge was all for naught for Florida, though. Now the Golden Knights, an expansion team back in 2017, are one victory away from lifting Lord Stanley's Cup. Heading back home to Sin City for Game 5. The biggest prize in all of hockey will be in the building. On display. How will the Knights respond? Given that the Panthers have played with house money as the East's last team to earn a playoff berth, they have the stuff to rally from a 3-1 deficit. They proved it against the Bruins in the first round!
As much as I'd welcome a Florida upset to extend this Stanley Cup Final, Vegas just looks too strong at this point. Their depth, physicality, grit and superior play in net from Hill makes it a tall task for the Panthers to even earn the right to play Game 6, much less roar back to win the whole thing.
Oh well. That brawl at the end was pretty cool, eh? Kind of an ugly scene with the fans throwing shit but hey, passions are high. BECAUSE IT'S THE CUP!!
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok