The Vegas Golden Knights came into the Stanley Cup Finals as the favorites because analysts and pundits believed they had better players on offense and would be able to play better defense as well. Over the first 4 games of the series, that’s how it’s played out. While the Panthers squeaked out a gutty win in Game 3, they haven’t done enough to consistently challenge the Golden Knights, and especially so on the offensive side of the puck. They’ve only scored more than 2 goals once in the series, and it took overtime just to do that. The Golden Knights weren’t at their peak offensively last night, but after scoring 12 goals in the first two games, they showed that they can still win in a hostile environment even when their offense isn’t firing on all cylinders.
Center Chandler Stevenson led the charge offensively with two goals, and Mark Stone contributed mightily with 2 assists. However, the star of the game was undoubtedly Adin Hill. In a one goal game, he saved 29 of 31 shots and ensured the Golden Knights wouldn’t need to score again. This was a good thing since the offense dried up in the 3rd period for Vegas. It was a tight game, and he stepped up when his team needed him the most.
The series now shifts back to Vegas on Tuesday. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00pm Est on TNT. Needless to say, Vegas has all the momentum and surely their home crowd will be going crazy throughout the entire night. It’s a lot to ask for the Panthers to mount a comeback in this series, but they overcame a 3-1 deficit once in the postseason already.