No superstitions. All business.
With a 3-2 win against the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final at FLA Live Arena on Saturday, the Golden Knights took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.
They will fly home Sunday, take the rest of the day off and deal with everything that comes from being on the cusp of the Cup — family travel, ticket requests, party plans.
Good. They should, because they still have practice Monday to refocus before they try to clinch in front of their fans in Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, CBC, SN, TVAS).
“If it means discussing certain things with family members about the Stanley Cup or whatever you want to talk about, then I think that’s OK,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I mean, that’s what we’re playing for. I don’t think there’s any taboos with that.
“You can’t bring that to the rink on Monday at practice or Tuesday when it’s time to play. But tomorrow’s a day when you can let yourself go a little bit and think about how hard it’s been to get here and what’s required to finish the job. I think that has to be built in as well, right? They’ve worked hard to get here.”
The Golden Knights have reason to feel confident. They have controlled most of this series, and only one team in NHL history has lost the Cup Final after taking a 3-1 series lead: the Detroit Red Wings against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942.
If it weren’t for the end of Game 3 — in which they gave up the tying goal late in regulation, the winning goal early in overtime and lost 3-2 — the Golden Knights would have hoisted the Cup already.
Vegas took a 3-0 lead in Game 4. Florida got a fluky goal to make it 3-1, got another goal to make it 3-2 and fought to the finish, but the better team won.
“I think the whole 60 minutes we played with a faster tempo than they did,” forward Reilly Smith said. “I think we created a lot more opportunities. They still came up with some big saves and kept the game close, but you know, I think that’s four games in a row where we’ve outplayed them.”
The Golden Knights are 8-3 at home in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including 2-0 in this series.
“We’ve played really well at home here in the playoffs, so you’ve got to feel pretty good going home with a 3-1 lead,” defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said.
It would be silly to write off the Panthers, of course.
They were nine points out of a playoff spot in late December and rallied to earn the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. They came back from a 3-1 series deficit in the first round to defeat the Boston Bruins, after the Bruins set the NHL records for wins (65) and points (135) in the regular season. Then they defeated the Maple Leafs in five games in the second round and swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference final.
But the Golden Knights seem highly unlikely to take the Panthers lightly. They are experienced, mature and on a mission.
“I feel confident,” said forward Chandler Stephenson, who won the Cup with the Washington Capitals when they defeated the Golden Knights in five games in 2018. “There’s a lot of guys that have been in this position before, and I think that’s something that has benefitted us, and everybody’s going to be ready.”
Pietrangelo won the Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, when they failed to clinch at home against the Bruins in Game 6 and got the job done in Boston in Game 7.
“You can overthink things, I think,” Pietrangelo said. “For us, let’s get on the plane tomorrow, get some rest, spend some time with our families and get ready to go back to work.”
Goalie Adin Hill didn’t mind admitting he can’t help but think about the Cup.
“It’s the ultimate goal in hockey, right?” Hill said. “So there’s no way you can shut that off in your mind. You’re thinking about that. But at the same time, it’s just staying in the moment, focusing on the next play, the next shift.”
No superstitions. All business.
“We understand the magnitude of the process, but we’re going to go home and take the game as if it’s Game 1 for us, so we ain’t changing anything,” captain Mark Stone said. “We’ll make minor adjustments to our game, I’m sure, but we want to continue to play our brand of hockey and be ready to go Tuesday night.”
