Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill (33) has the puck slide by as teammate Alex Pietrangelo (7) watches in horror as the Florida Panthers' Eric Staal, not pictured, scores shorthanded in the first period during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, June 3, 2023, in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS)
LAS VEGAS — Defenseman Zach Whitecloud scored a go-ahead goal 6:59 into the third period, and the Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers, 5-2, in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.
Right wing Jonathan Marchessault, defenseman Shea Theodore, captain Mark Stone and left wing Reilly Smith also scored for the Knights, who won their third straight series opener. Teams that win Game 1 of the final since it became a best-of-seven have lifted the Cup 63 of a possible 83 times (75.9%).
Center Eric Staal and right wing Anthony Duclair scored for the Panthers, who lost for only the second time in their past 13 games. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky gave up three goals for the second time in his past 10 starts.
©2023 Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Visit reviewjournal.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
