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5 reasons the Golden Knights are Stanley Cup champions

Posted on by Jillian Wagner
John Locher/Associated Press

Two nights ago, the Vegas Golden Knights were crowned Stanley Cup champions for the first time in franchise history.

In a 9-3 rout, the Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers in five games to be the last team standing.

Golden Knights thrash Panthers 9-3 in Game 5 to clinch first Stanley Cup in franchise history
The Vegas Golden Knights held a 3-1 series edge over the Florida Panthers coming into a critical Game 5 Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena. The Golden Knights delivered a statement performance as they demolished the Panthers in a 9-3 rout to clinch the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Mark
Knights On IceJillian Wagner

After a disappointing end to a magical inaugural campaign, it took the Golden Knights five years to return to the Stanley Cup Final. This time around, the Golden Knights came out on top.

There are a lot of factors that went into Vegas’ successful run, but here are five of the main reasons the Golden Knights lifted Lord Stanley’s prize.

1. Depth

Perhaps the Golden Knights’ greatest asset all season was its depth, an advantage that was magnified in the playoffs. The Golden Knights had the luxury of being able to consistently roll four lines and three defensive pairings, knowing every unit could impact the game both offensively and defensively.

The Golden Knights had three legitimate scoring lines and a fourth line that did plenty of damage offensively. In fact, Vegas’ fourth line combined for five points in the first period of Game 6 against Dallas, completely setting the tone and leading the way in arguably the Golden Knights’ best game of the season.

“Every year you see a team go far, they need depth, they need big goals from their bottom-six guys,” William Carrier said after Game 6.

“We had a lot of guys step up in big ways today,” Mark Stone explained after eliminating the Stars. “[Nicolas Roy], Will Carrier and Keegan Kolesar as a group have been pretty incredible. There’s a lot of teams around this league that would love to have them as their third or second line. We’ve got them as our fourth unit. It just allows guys to slot in great spots. … We earned that win tonight with depth, and we didn’t panic.”

Everyone throughout the lineup stepped up at one point or another.

Not including Phil Kessel (four games), Ben Hutton (two games) and Brayden Pachal (one game), Brayden McNabb – a true stay-at-home defenseman – was the only player on the Golden Knights who did not score a goal in the playoffs. Secondary scoring carried the Golden Knights all year, and it was a consistent source of offense throughout the postseason.

The Golden Knights are just the fifth team in the salary cap era to have three or more players score 10–plus goals in a single postseason (Vegas had four), and Vegas was the only team that had four players with eight-plus goals this year (Jonathan Marchessault had 13, Stone and William Karlsson had 11 and Chandler Stephenson had 10). The Golden Knights also had a player with at least 10 goals on three different lines, giving them a balanced threat other teams were unable to match.

“You need depth, and I think we had enough guys on this team to almost make five lines,” Carrier said after the Stanley Cup ceremony.

Jack Eichel was one of many other players who brought up the team’s depth after Vegas clinched the championship.

“It’s just been a team effort for us the whole season, and I think that’s what makes our group special,” he said. “Everyone steps up.”

But the workload was shared defensively as well.

For the first three rounds, Karlsson’s line was tasked with containing the opposing teams’ top players. However, it was the fourth line and third defensive pairing that were on the ice against Matthew Tkachuk in the first few games of the Stanley Cup Final. There were other games when the Stephenson and Stone line took on a heavier defensive load.

The Golden Knights had the benefit of not having to worry about hard-matching, a privilege their opponents did not share. Most notably, Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft kept Connor McDavid on the bench when the Karlsson line was out on the ice in the second-round matchup between the Pacific Division rivals.

“That tells you what they think of William Karlsson,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said after the Golden Knights eliminated the Oilers in six games. “They’re trying to take away the best player in hockey against our guy. … We like William in that matchup. We were comfortable with other guys. We had Teddy Blueger out there. This guy knows how to check and defend, and he’s a very, very valuable guy when you have that lead. So he’s helped us even though he’s probably [an] under-the-radar guy. … But they tried to get away from [Karlsson]. Then Teddy would come next a lot of times, and know what his role was.”

The Golden Knights had so much depth that a player like Blueger – acquired at the trade deadline for his defensive aptitude and faceoff capabilities – only played six games. Two-time Stanley Cup champion Kessel played the first four games of the Winnipeg series but was a healthy scratch the rest of the way despite having 96 games of playoff experience coming into this season.

Even Jonathan Quick, a two-time Stanley Cup champion who was acquired at the deadline, served as the third-string goalie in seven of Vegas’ first eight games before Laurent Brossoit got injured; Quick then rode the bench the rest of the way, playing zero minutes in 22 postseason contests.

After Game 2 against Florida, Cassidy said the Golden Knights “have the best team from player 1 through 20, that’s just how I feel. … It’s been the big strength of our team.”

Of the 13 forwards who played at least five games, 13 scored at least one goal and 12 had at least two. The Golden Knights got overtime game-winning goals from players like Brett Howden and Michael Amadio.

“I think that’s the coolest thing of our team, is that we have so much depth up front and on the back end and obviously in goaltending too,” Howden said after the first game of the Western Conference Final. “I just think we have a really deep team and we can kind of roll our lines however we want any night, so it’s a real boost for us and it obviously gives us confidence that anybody can be out there at any moment.”

Vegas’ ability to roll four lines also helped wear teams down. The Golden Knights could be relentless on the forecheck because no player or line was overextended, leaving opposing players – especially defensemen – gassed and more mistake-prone. The Golden Knights then capitalized on those errors, and the cycle continued. On and on, period after period, game after game, series after series.

The Golden Knights also relied heavily on their deep, physical blue line.

The interesting dynamic about Vegas’ defensemen is that they’re sizable but also move the puck well. That back end played a significant role in the team’s success, and the fact that the Golden Knights were able to ice three balanced pairs capable at both ends of the ice was yet another upper hand from a depth perspective.

Teams didn’t have answers for the Golden Knights’ attack or stifling defense, and a huge part of it was due to depth.

2. Health

One reason why the Golden Knights’ depth was such a strength was because Vegas was unusually healthy throughout the playoffs.

The Golden Knights have made the playoffs in five out of six seasons; the one time Vegas missed the mark was 2021-22 (Year 5). A significant factor in that failed season was an unending list of injuries to key players. Given the Golden Knights’ salary cap restrictions, coach Pete DeBoer was limited on a nightly basis, and he failed to make the necessary adjustments to overcome those injuries. It wasn’t just the injuries, but they played a huge role.

Fast-forward to 2022-23 and the Golden Knights continued to be hit hard by the injury bug. Putting Robin Lehner and Nolan Patrick aside, the Golden Knights had multiple players on long-term injured reserve and regular injured reserve throughout the season, and only three players played all 82 games: Kessel, Karlsson and McNabb.

Among the most significant injuries was Stone’s 39-game absence after he sustained a back injury Jan. 12 against Florida. His status was uncertain for several weeks until the team announced he had undergone back surgery on Jan. 31. His prognosis for the rest of the year was iffy.

The injuries started to mount towards the end of the first half of the season, and the Golden Knights had to dig deep and rely on the “next man up” mentality.

Eichel suffered multiple injuries during the regular season. He was hurt Dec. 3, returned and played Dec. 9 and then didn’t play again until Jan. 5. Shea Theodore and Zach Whitecloud were injured in consecutive games a week after Eichel; in fact, the two rearguards went down in back-to-back games, with Theodore getting hurt Dec. 9 and Whitecloud going down Dec. 11. Theodore didn’t return until Jan. 27, and Whitecloud was out until Feb. 7 after being labeled month-to-month.

Howden spent time on LTIR and was out of commission from Nov. 23 until Jan. 24. Paul Cotter missed three weeks from mid-December to early January, Carrier missed two weeks in January, Roy missed a month from late February to late March, and Pavel Dorofeyev missed time after getting hurt Dec. 28.

The area of Vegas’ lineup that took the hardest hit was in net.

The injuries in the crease were so widespread that Vegas had to dress six goalies and start five during the regular season. When Jiri Patera made his NHL debut on March 12, he became the fifth goaltender to start a game for Vegas this season, which set a franchise record (Vegas had five goalies play in the inaugural campaign, but Dylan Ferguson never got an actual start).

Brossoit played 23 games for the Henderson Silver Knights but otherwise was out of the lineup for most of the year and then missed an additional month, and Hill missed more than a month from early March until Game 2 of the Winnipeg series. Logan Thompson was hurt Feb. 9 and returned March 23 only to leave in that same game; that was the last time he took the crease for Vegas this season, and as of last week, he had yet to practice with the team.

However, after two seasons replete with bad breaks on the injury front, the Golden Knights finally found some good fortune towards the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. In fact, Vegas was remarkably healthy throughout its championship run.

“You go through a playoff run where you don’t get too many injuries is also rare,” Carrier said, “so we took [it and ran with it].”

McNabb and Theodore missed a game, and Carrier was out from early March until Game 5 of the Winnipeg series.

However, the Golden Knights had 13 players who played in all 22 postseason games and an additional three who only missed one game (Alex Pietrangelo served a one-game suspension during Game 5 of the Edmonton series but otherwise did not miss a game).

When Eichel took a monster hit from Tkachuk in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, he was able to return the next period and immediately went out and made a game-changing play to set up a Marchessault goal.

Very few players missed time, and the Golden Knights didn’t suffer severe injuries that kept key players out long-term or limited them significantly.

The one exception was in net, as Brossoit suffered an injury in Game 3 against Edmonton.

However, Hill obviously stepped up in the moment and was sensational the rest of the way.

The Golden Knights got healthy and stayed healthy at the perfect time, and it helped them fight for and claim the first title in franchise history.

3. Coaching

There’s no doubt that Cassidy played a massive role in Vegas’ Cup run and victory.

He was influential from the start, and he had the Golden Knights committed to a 200-foot game that focused on defensive responsibility, an intense forecheck and playing the right way.

The one thing the Golden Knights excelled at during the season was winning; no matter what, the Golden Knights found ways to win, and Cassidy coached Vegas to its best regular season in franchise history. The Golden Knights clinched the top seed in the Western Conference and had home-ice advantage in all four rounds.

Cassidy made in-game adjustments to fix deficiencies and strengthen the team’s effectiveness regardless of the outcome and the opponent. He managed ice time allocation intelligently, was calm all year, kept the Golden Knights measured and focused, and instituted a system that worked.

“He came in and brought an intensity to our locker room that maybe we needed,” Stone said after watching his teammates carry the Cup around the T-Mobile Arena ice. “I think he wanted to win just as bad as everyone else in that locker room.”

Cassidy made savvy lineup decisions throughout the season, especially in the playoffs. He brought Blueger into the Edmonton series to solidify Vegas’ defense up the middle and to have another strong faceoff guy on the ice against Edmonton’s potent offense. He also moved Roy to the Karlsson line, which opened things up offensively.

Ahead of Game 6 against the Stars, which turned out to be Vegas’ best game of the year, Cassidy moved Roy back down to the fourth line, and the move paid dividends immediately. The fourth line had gotten out-muscled by Dallas’ bottom-six in Game 5, and Cassidy knew exactly what to do to respond. The fourth line set the tone with a fantastic shift to start the game and then went on to combine for five points in the opening frame.

Cassidy had a knack for moving players to the right position at the right time, especially for some of the plug-and-play options available to him, such as Amadio and Howden, both of whom scored game-winning goals in overtime. Howden also played a key role driving to the net and tying up his defender on Stephenson’s overtime game-winner.

Cassidy worked all year towards finding pairs of forwards to bolster each line. Those tweaks eventually led to the dominant forward combinations Vegas deployed in the postseason, consisting of the Eichel-Marchessault, Karlsson-Reilly Smith and Stephenson-Stone pairs. Towards the end of the run, no changes were made to the lineup because Vegas was firing on all cylinders. But chemistry is not automatic, and lineup management requires effort, thought and sound judgment, all of which Cassidy provided.

Arguably for the first time in Golden Knights history, the Misfit Line was broken up without damaging Vegas’ overall output. Cassidy made that happen, and he made it work on an extended basis. In the past, that line always got reunited at some point to give Vegas a boost or to get something going; that wasn’t needed under Cassidy’s rule.

He continued to move Ivan Barbashev – known as a Swiss-Army knife ahead of his arrival to Vegas – until he found the perfect place for him alongside Eichel and Marchessault. Barbashev worked on other lines, but Cassidy kept adjusting until the top line was born. He had the advantage of excellent depth, but Cassidy got the most out of his players and knew which buttons to push and which levers to pull.

He also wasn’t afraid to make changes.

For example, when Carrier returned from injury ahead of Game 5 against the Jets, the Golden Knights had won three games in a row. Many coaches would not have risked tampering with the lineup, but Cassidy changed three of four forward lines in order to accommodate Carrier’s return. The Golden Knights were dominant that night in the club’s first elimination game of the postseason. It was a bold move, but it was one of many by Cassidy that yielded good results.

Some coaches might have pulled Hill after he gave up two goals on the first two shots of the game in Game 6 against Edmonton; Cassidy did not, and Hill rewarded that show of faith with a 38-save stretch to close out the game and the series.

Cassidy’s system also allowed the team to survive the deluge of injuries in net. Whoever was in the crease seemed to thrive, and that was the case all year (though Hill did find a new gear once he took over against Edmonton). However, the Golden Knights’ biggest question mark coming into the season was goaltending; while the crease was a revolving door, goaltending was never an issue, and that was true throughout the postseason as well. Even as the Golden Knights faced elite netminders in Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Oettinger, Vegas won the goaltending battle in every round.

The Golden Knights’ stifling defense made life easier on the goaltenders, and the players were committed to Cassidy’s demand for backchecking. The Golden Knights took on Cassidy’s mantra of “It hurts to win” and wore it with pride. “Win your races, win your battles” was another key component of Vegas’ winning mindset.

The Golden Knights blocked a league-high 450 shots; the Panthers finished second but had just 344. That’s a difference of more than 100 blocks, which is a staggering statistic. Even accounting for games played, the Golden Knights finished first with 19.94 blocks per 60. The Golden Knights blocked 87 shots in the final three games of the Stanley Cup Final alone. They limited opposing chances, kept teams to the perimeter, protected the middle of the ice and helped make Hill’s life easier by clearing the crease.

Of course, Hill still had to stand on his head, but the team defense Vegas employed was a crucial part of Vegas’ success. That was Cassidy’s directive, and the players executed it to perfection.

Cassidy’s arrival also seemingly introduced a change in team culture.

The shift in attitude from last season to this season was palpable. The Golden Knights admittedly had fun every day, and there was no controversy. While the DeBoer-produced Lehner and Marc-Andre Fleury debacle became a distraction and a problem, Cassidy fostered an environment in which players were more than willing to work as a team, no matter who was in the lineup.

“Next man up” was not just a philosophy but a belief system. Top players sacrificed minutes and checked their egos at the door, willingly buying in to Cassidy’s system and approach. Cassidy ushered in a change in mindset that seemed to keep the players both loose and driven all year.

“Guys genuinely love each other, and that’s what you need when you face adversity,” Alec Martinez said after the Golden Knights final win of the postseason. “Things aren’t always gonna go your way. They certainly didn’t last year. But guys took it as an opportunity to get better, to get healthier. … look at their individual game, our team game, and guys made the most of it. … Just really proud of this group.”

The Vegas bench boss helped Vegas stay in the moment, constantly maintaining focus on the task at hand instead of thinking ahead. Part of that was learned through experience, but a big part of it was reinforced by Cassidy all year.

Throughout the season, Cassidy’s post-game interviews consisted of a steady stream of even-keeled comments regarding getting better however possible, even after wins. But by the time Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final came around, the Golden Knights were playing so well that they didn’t need to make adjustments; Cassidy had already made them all.

Perhaps the best example of Cassidy’s ability to lead this team was his decision to start five original Golden Misfits in Game 5. It was a fitting tribute, a nod to the history of the franchise, a way to honor the players who have been in Vegas from Day 1 and a great motivator to set the tone for the team and the crowd.

Cassidy helped the Golden Knights reach their true potential.

Under Cassidy’s guidance, the Golden Knights were worthy of the title of champions.

4. Goaltending

It’s no secret that Vegas relied on outstanding goaltending throughout its Cup run. The team was without Thompson and had started five different goalies during the regular season, but Brossoit and Hill delivered.

When Brossoit went down with an injury in Game 3 against the Oilers, Hill was ready to go. He was worthy of consideration for the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs for his spectacular play; he gave his team a chance to win every night and made countless jaw-dropping saves.

He also stayed calm and composed through it all, even when he had popcorn thrown at him in Dallas.

Nothing fazed him.

He was utterly fantastic for the Golden Knights this postseason, and he was pivotal in helping the Golden Knights reach the finish line.

“I simplified my game, and our team simplified our game,” Hill said after Vegas lifted the Cup. “We just played the way we needed to play, and we played winning hockey. The best team in the world right now; it’s pretty surreal.”

Hill was brilliant night after night; his most memorable save came in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final when he absolutely robbed Nick Cousins with a brilliant paddle stop in desperation.

“That’s an unreal save, it’s a game-changer,” Cassidy said after the game. “You need those saves at key moments.”

Hill made timely saves night after night, many of which were worthy of high praise.

He came up huge in Game 6 against the Oilers, shutting down 38 straight shots after a rough start to close out the series.

“He stepped up, and you’re not advancing without that,” Cassidy said afterwards. “You need goaltending, and it’s been a good story for us this year no matter who’s gone in there. And good for Adin. He’s a young guy that wants to establish himself full-time in the league, and the opportunity comes and he was ready. That’s the part I’m impressed by, is he was ready to play, to go into a really difficult atmosphere against the top scoring team in the National Hockey League.”

Nicolas Hague also praised Hill’s play after the Golden Knights took care of the Oilers.

“He was incredible,” Hague said. “We knew we were gonna need a couple big saves, they certainly weren’t gonna go away without a big push, and they definitely had that push. And when we did break down, Hilly came up with a handful and kept it out, so that gets us feeling good and confidence that we can close that game out.”

Hill had one of his best performances in Game 5 against Dallas despite not getting the win.

But he was exceptional from the moment he took over to the moment he lifted the Cup.

“It’s unbelievable,” Carrier said after the Golden Knights beat the Panthers in Game 5. “All the goalies that played for us this year, unbelievable. … He was outstanding, he had an unbelievable playoff for us.”

That “unbelievable” playoff wasn’t just a highlight reel of eye-popping saves; Hill’s numbers were mighty impressive as well.

He finished the Cup run with an 11-4 record and finished third in goals-against average (2.17), first in save percentage (.932) and tied for first in shutouts (2).

Hill had 11 starts with a save percentage over .900, and he finished third in percentage of games with a save percentage above .900 (78.6 percent) behind Igor Shesterkin and Ilya Sorokin, both of whom were eliminated in the first round.

Hill’s save percentage at 5-on-5 was a league-high .941. His goals-against average at 5-on-5 was 1.88 (Brossoit’s was 1.72), and his high-danger save percentage at 5-on-5 was .894, good for second among goalies who played at least five games. His high-danger goals-against average (0.74) was tops among goalies with at least five games, and he finished first in high-danger goals saved above average (5.96).

Hill also was Vegas’ best penalty killer.

His .899 save percentage while shorthanded ranked third overall, while his high-danger save percentage while shorthanded (.879) was the best among playoff goalies. He averaged more high-danger saves per 60 on the penalty kill (26) than any other goalie, and he turned aside 4.25 high-danger goals saved above average per 60 minutes.

Hill was simply incredible, and he was an instrumental part of Vegas’ historic run.

5. Special teams

The power play and penalty kill were problematic for the Golden Knights all season. Special teams, in general, was the team’s greatest weakness, particularly heading into the Stanley Cup Final.

However, the Golden Knights won the special-teams battle in all five games against Florida.

The Golden Knights completely shut down a strong Panthers power play and scored two power-play goals in each of the first three games.

Vegas also maintained discipline for most of the postseason. That wasn’t always the case, as Pietrangelo was suspended for one game after delivering an ugly slash on Leon Draisaitl, and many players took retaliatory penalties, especially against Edmonton. For the most part, though, the Golden Knights overcame that flaw in their game and began to show great restraint.

The best example of that was Hague’s reaction to Dallas’ Max Domi, who punched Hague in the face. Instead of punching back, Hague just laughed and watched Domi head to the sin bin.

He did it again against Florida after getting sucker-punched by Tkachuk.

That team-wide mentality allowed the Golden Knights to let other teams implode. The Golden Knights weren’t rattled, and they made the most of their opportunities.

Even when the power play was inconsistent, it came through at opportune moments. For example, when Jamie Benn delivered the vicious hit to a defenseless Stone, the Golden Knights scored to make Dallas pay.

The Golden Knights’ in-series adjustments to the Oilers’ power play were significant and helped turn that series around. But it was the penalty kill in the Stanley Cup Final that was most impressive.

Vegas finished the series 14-for-14 on the penalty kill, scored six power-play goals and added a shorthanded tally in Game 5 for good measure. The special-teams battle was the biggest question mark for Vegas coming into the series, but it was yet another battle the Golden Knights won.

Of course, these are just five of many reasons the Golden Knights won the 2023 Stanley Cup.

Management’s daring boldness to build a winning lineup had a lot to do with it, even if questionable decisions were made along the way. The fact that Hague was the only player in the lineup who was drafted by the Golden Knights says a lot about how much maneuvering Kelly McCrimmon and George McPhee have done over the years.

Another key aspect of Vegas’ march to the Cup was the mentality this franchise has owned from the beginning. The “Misfit” identity does not only apply to the six remaining original members of the Golden Knights.

Players like Howden and Amadio were cast off; Eichel was mistreated by the Sabres and forced out of the organization. Pietrangelo’s time in St. Louis came to a disappointing end. Stephenson was traded for a fifth-round pick when the Capiatls needed to get rid of a contract. Roy was a throw-in in a trade for Erik Haula. Whitecloud was undrafted. Quick was dumped after 16 years of service to the Kings, including two Stanley Cups. Cassidy was fired by the Bruins despite making the playoffs six seasons in a row and reaching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2019.

The list goes on.

There are a lot of reasons the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup. Individual efforts, timely saves, crucial goals, fortunate bounces and countless other factors.

But the Golden Knights won with depth and goaltending. Cassidy played a critical role in clinching the Cup. Special teams, although not perfect, stepped up in big moments to propel the Golden Knights through the playoffs, especially in the Final. Lastly, health was a significant contributing factor to the team’s ability to bounce back and keep its foot on the gas.

There are a lot of reasons teams win the Stanley Cup. It takes heart, effort, persistence, drive and countless other elements.

But at the end of the day, it was Vegas’ time.

Talking Points