The Vegas Golden Knights dominated the Florida Panthers 9-3 in Tuesday’s Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final to capture the franchise’s first championship.
Vegas jumped out to a 2-0 advantage on first-period goals from Mark Stone and Nicolas Hague.
Aaron Ekblad’s tally 2:15 into the second period gave the Panthers hope before the Golden Knights poured it on to put the game out of reach. Alec Martinez and Reilly Smith scored 1:45 apart, with Stone and Michael Amadio padding the lead to close out the middle frame.
The championship is the first for a major men’s professional team based in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Aces won the WNBA title in 2022.
The Golden Knights are also the first franchise to win a Stanley Cup in a club’s first six NHL seasons since the 1984 Oilers, though the team existed for seven years in the WHA before joining the league in 1979.
