The Vegas Golden Knights drew first blood with a convincing 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday.
Vegas will look to take a strong 2-0 advantage in front of its home fans on Monday, while Florida aims to avoid dropping consecutive games for the first time since Games 3 and 4 of its first-round series against the Boston Bruins.
The top-seeded Golden Knights know better than to underestimate a wild-card Panthers team that has already notched three massive upsets this spring, knocking off the Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes in succession.
“I think we’re a little bit more humble to the situation now,” Jonathan Marchessault said via the Associated Press. “We know that it doesn’t mean anything winning one game in one series. For us, the focus is on next game, and that’s how we’re going to approach every game.”
Florida wasn’t panicking following its Game 1 setback and is looking forward to correcting mistakes it made in the opening contest.
“There are lots of areas where we can improve on both ends of the rink,” Panthers veteran Eric Staal said after the loss. “I think there are things we will look at and talk about and look forward to the next game. You get yourself off the mat and be excited for the challenge in Game 2.”
“It’s the first game,” goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky added. “It’s a long series and lots of hockey ahead of us. We play to learn and we move on.”
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Monday’s game, and how you can follow along with the action.
How to watch Panthers at Golden Knights
Who: No. 8-seeded Florida Panthers at No. 1-seeded Vegas Golden Knights
What: Stanley Cup Final, Game 2 (Vegas leads series 1-0)
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
When: 8:00 p.m. ET Monday
TV: TNT | SN, CBC, TVAS
Live updates: Follow the stats with Yahoo Sports
