Stephenson sparks Vegas to verge of NHL crown
Chandler Stephenson scored two goals and the Vegas Golden Knights moved to the brink of their first NHL title by defeating Florida 3-2 on Saturday in the Stanley Cup Final. With the victory in South Florida, the Golden Knights seized a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, which moves back to Las Vegas for game five on Tuesday. "It's a different feeling," said Stephenson. "Little more nerves when you know the Cup is in the building. Little more going on. You've just got to try to keep it just like another game. "Hopefully we can close it out." Both clubs are chasing a first Stanley Cup title in their second trip to the final. Vegas lost to Washington in 2018 in the Knights' inaugural season while the Panthers were swept by Colorado in 1996. The Knights are counting on an excited and noisy atmosphere from a sellout crowd in their arena just off the Las Vegas Strip. "Hopefully it's an electric factory," Stephenson said. Golden Knights center Stephenson opened the scoring 99 seconds into the game and the Canadian struck again 7:28 into the second period to give Vegas a 2-0 advantage. William Karlsson scored 3:36 later to make it 3-0 with Nicolas Hague assisting on both second-period tallies by the Golden Knights. "We just try to play with that swagger. That seems to be the magic in the playoffs," Stephenson said. "Everybody has been scoring. Everybody has been contributing. That's kind of what you need come playoff time." Florida's Brandon Montour answered with 3:51 remaining in the second to pull the Panthers within 3-1 entering the third period. Montour, a Canadian defenseman, set up a goal from Florida's Aleksander Barkov only 3:49 into the third period to lift the hosts within 3-2. Alex Pietrangelo of Vegas was whistled for delay of game with just under 18 seconds remaining to give Florida a late power play but the Panthers couldn't take advantage. Vegas goaltender Aiden Hill made the last of his 28 saves in the dying seconds and a scramble ensued as players shoved each other in front of the Knights net after the final horn sounded. The last period felt similar to that of game three, when the Panthers tied the score late to set up an overtime triumph. "It seems like we have that in the playoffs and the next game we learn from it," Stephenson said. "The guys came up huge that were out there." (AFP)