Reilly Smith (Miami) notched the decisive goal, Alec Martinez (Miami) added another score, and Jack Eichel (Boston University) posted three assists on the night as the Vegas Golden Knights won their first-ever Stanley Cup with a 9-3 rout of the visiting Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. Vegas won the best-of-seven series, four games to one, one year after missing the playoffs entirely..
Vegas, which made the Cup final during its inaugural NHL campaign in 2017-18 but lost to Washington, won its first championship in its sixth season after ousting Winnipeg, Edmonton and Dallas to claim the Western Conference crown. Florida, in the final for the first time since 1996, fell short again after defeating Boston, Toronto and Carolina to win the Eastern Conference this spring.
Smith tallied the game-winning goal just over 12 minutes into the second period to make it 4-1, less than two minutes after Martinez scored for Vegas before a record 19,058 on-lookers at T-Mobile Arena. Eichel, playing in his first-ever pro postseason, finished with 26 points on six goals and 20 assists in 22 games. In the final, he registered eight assists in five games. Martinez won his third career Cup, having previously helped the Los Angeles Kings to their first-ever league titles in 2012 and 2014.
Other former NCAA players on the Golden Knights' roster this spring included: Teddy Blueger (Minnesota State); Paul Cotter (Western Michigan); Ben Hutton (Maine); Phil Kessel (Minnesota); Jonathan Quick (UMass), and; Zach Whitecloud (Bemidji State). Kessel and Quick, who did not play in the final, each won their third Cup.
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