Vegas Golden Knights come back to beat Florida Panthers in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final
Zach Whitecloud scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Zach Whitecloud scored from long range with just over 13 minutes left, after Adin Hill made arguably the best save of the playoffs, and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Florida Panthers 5-2 Saturday night in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Whitecloud's goal put Vegas ahead, a crucial penalty kill followed and captain Mark Stone scored an insurance goal that was reviewed for a high stick and confirmed. That combination, plus Hill's 31 saves, gave Vegas the lead in the series after a feisty opener between Sun Belt teams who wasted little time getting acquainted with big hits during play and plenty of post-whistle pushing and shoving.
Original Knights players Jonathan Marchessault and Shea Theodore also scored on Florida's two-time Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky. Back in the final, they'll now try to avoid the same result as in 2018, when Vegas beat Washington in Game 1 and lost the next four to fall short of hoisting the Cup in its inaugural season.
Game 2 is Monday in Las Vegas.
___
Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports