LAS VEGAS — Back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in five years and trailing the Florida Panthers less than 10 minutes into the best-of-seven series opener, the Vegas Golden Knights sent a very clear message.
"We were ready," forward Jonathan Marchessault said.
Ready and relentless. Vegas rallied from an early deficit, got the go-ahead goal from Zach Whitecloud with just more than 13 minutes left, and arguably the best save of these NHL playoffs from Adin Hill. It all added up to a 5-2 victory Saturday night for early control of the title pairing.
"We kept our composure, and it was good," said Marchessault, one of six original players left from the start of the franchise in 2017, who scored the tying goal in the first period. "We just wanted to play the right way and be disciplined, and tonight we were able to be the better team."
Whitecloud 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. Reilly Smith sealed it with an empty-netter to make the score look more lopsided than the game.
The combination of that offense and Hill's 33 saves put Vegas up after a feisty opener between Sun Belt teams that wasted little time getting acquainted with big hits during play and plenty of post-whistle pushing and shoving.
"It's exactly what we expected," said Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore, who scored his first goal of the playoffs and ended a 27-game drought dating to March 7. "That's how they wanted to play. We were just trying not to play into it."
Before the Panthers even had a chance to respond, they ratcheted up the physical play late after falling behind by two. A handful of penalties resulting from a fracas with 4:24 remaining left the Florida bench well short.
The outcome was determined long before that.
After falling behind on a short-handed goal by Eric Staal that sucked the life out of the crowd of 18,432, the Golden Knights rallied for their ninth comeback win this postseason. Marchessault — known since arriving in Las Vegas for scoring big goals — answered before the end of the first period.
Early in the second, Hill made a desperation stick save to rob Nick Cousins of what would have been a sure goal. The save was reminiscent of the one Washington's Braden Holtby made against Vegas — in the same crease — five years ago.
"That's an unreal save — it's a game changer," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "You need those saves at key moments."
Giving up a tying goal to Anthony Duclair with 10.2 seconds left in the second did not slow the Golden Knights' momentum much. Whitecloud's goal, with two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky screened and unable to see, fired up fans once again.
Bobrovsky, in the title series for the first time, downplayed any reason for concern after stopping 29 of 34 shots and losing for just the second time in 12 games this postseason.
"I played a good game," Bobrovsky said. "I played a solid game. They created some good chances other than goals. They had lots of good scoring chances, and that was fun."
Part of the fun came when play was stopped.
Less than 10 minutes in, Hill was none too happy about Nick Cousins crashing into his crease and gave the agitating Panthers winger a jab that incited a handful of scrums. During the second period, Matthew Tkachuk let Vegas defenseman Nic Hague know he wasn't thrilled about a hit in the corner on Cousins and a collision with Brandon Montour after the whistle.
"If guys are going to come in my crease and try to push me around, I'm going to stand my own ground," Hill said. "I'm not going to do anything too crazy or get too wild, but, yeah, I've got to stand up for myself."
Florida coach Paul Maurice, back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2001, displayed a similarly calm demeanor as he did all the way back in the first round, when his team fell behind 1-0 then 3-1 in the series to the heavily favored Boston Bruins before winning in seven.
"It's going to be tight," Maurice said. "Everybody breathe."
Game 2 is Monday in Las Vegas.
The Golden Knights are in the final pairing for the second time in six years of existence, five years after making it in their inaugural season. Vegas won the opener in 2018 and lost the series to the Washington Capitals in five games.
The Panthers are back playing for the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1996. Florida got swept by the Colorado Avalanche in that matchup 27 years ago, 18 months before Tkachuk, the team's leading scorer of these playoffs, was born.
It's the 66th different matchup of teams in the final in NHL history and the 46th since the expansion era began in 1967-68. This is the first time since Washington-Vegas and just the third time since the turn of the century in which the series features two teams that have never won the league's championship.