The Vegas Golden Knights had to watch Chandler Stephenson and the Washington Capitals celebrate a series-clinching win at T-Mobile Arena in Game 5 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.
The Golden Knights now will have a chance to celebrate the franchise’s first NHL championship at their home arena in Game 5 after Stephenson’s big game on Saturday night.
He scored twice, his first career goals in the championship round, to help defeat the Florida Panthers 3-2 in Game 4, sending Vegas home with a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Game 5 will be Tuesday (8 p.m. ET, TNT) in Las Vegas. A closer look at Game 4.
Chandler Stephenson comes up big for Golden Knights
Stephenson opened the scoring 1:39 into the game, beating Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky five-hole after breaking in alone.
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He put the Golden Knights up 2-0 in the second period, one-timing a pass from captain Mark Stone.
The goals were the ninth and 10th of the postseason for Stephenson, who had arrived in a December 2019 trade and was an All-Star this season.
William Karlsson, an original Golden Knight, put Vegas up 3-0 on a rebound before Florida made it close.
New dad Brandon Montour scored on a shot that bounced off two Golden Knights players before going past Adin Hill. Montour also set up captain Aleksander Barkov for his first goal of the series.
But Hill and the Golden Knights held off a furious Panthers surge with Bobrovsky pulled.
Vegas’ Jack Eichel leaves game again but returns again
Eichel had left the ice in Game 2 after a big hit from Matthew Tkachuk but was able to return.
He also left Game 4 after being hit in the neck by teammate Jonathan Marchessault’s shot in the second period. But he got on the ice less than four minutes into the third period.
Brooks Koepka wears Aaron Ekblad jersey
Star golfer Brooks Koepka wore an Aaron Ekblad jersey while banging the drum before the game at FLA Live Arena.
Why is that significant?
Koepka had held up a traffic cone at a March game and taunted Ekblad about a turnover he made during a loss to the New York Rangers. Ekblad said to Sportsnet at the time about Koepka: “We’re not buddies. Never be buddies.” But they have made up since.
An Ekblad mistake led to the first Golden Knights goal, though. He went to the bench for a line change while Zach Whitecloud had the puck in the neutral zone. Whitecloud fed Stephenson for the goal.
Stone blew past Ekblad before setting up Stephenson’s second goal.
