Vegas Golden Knights

Although Vegas came out with 7-2 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night, it was a brutal night for both sides.

At times the game felt more like brawl and the officials called it like one. There were 148 combined penalty infraction minutes throughout the night, the second-most in a Stanley Cup Final matchup, according to ESPN Stats and Info.

The only game that had more was Game 4 of the 1986 Final between Montreal and Calgary in which there were 176 penalty minutes handed out.

After a relatively calm first period, the second and third is where the temperature was really cranked up between the two teams as there were several roughing calls on each side as well as 11 misconducts.

Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk was the recipient of two of those misconduct calls and served a game-high 22 total penalty minutes. This comes after he was ejected in the third period of Game 1 for throwing a couple of punches on Nicolas Hague and Jack Eichel following a whistle.

Tkachuk, who helped carry Florida on this improbable postseason run, has been a non-factor through the first two games of this series as the Golden Knights have taken a commanding 2-0 lead as they head down to South Florida.

He and the Panthers will be hoping for a big bounce back in Game 3 on Thursday night.

Ahead of Saturday's Stanley Cup Final opener between the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights, a bit of a friendly wager has occurred between the owners of the two franchises.

But only with the best intentions in mind.

Vegas' Bill Foley and Florida's Vincent Viola are partnering up to donate $100,000 at the end of the series to help support Military Families. The owner of the winning side will choose the Veterans Service Organization that will receive the donation from the owner of the losing team.

As two former members of the military, it's no surprise to see the two successful businessmen deciding to give back to these causes. Both men graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Foley served in the Air Force, reaching the rank of captain, while Viola was an infantry officer in the 101st Airborne Division.

As a part of the deal, Viola selected Gold Star Teen Adventures to receive the donation from Vegas while Foley opted for The Folded Flag Foundation. Both organizations look to help the families and children of military and law enforcement members who have died.

Viola in particular has had a long-running commitment to giving back to the military. He started the Panthers' Heroes Among Us program, which gives people in the South Florida community an opportunity to nominate and honor someone who has served the country.

At every single Panthers' home game, the honorees get free tickets and are recognized on the ice during the national anthem.

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is set for Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.

The Golden Knights finally decided to stop playing with their food and put an end to these Western Conference Finals.

Vegas came out with a purpose in its 6-0 Game 6 win over the Dallas Stars on Monday night to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2018, its first year as a franchise.

Everything went the away team's way at the American Airlines Center in Dallas as the Golden Knights kicked off the first period with a three-goal explosion that basically gave them one foot through the door.

William Carrier gave his squad an early lead with a goal 3:41 into the game. William Karlsson and Keegan Kolesar piled on later in the period to finish off an exquisite 20 minutes.

Vegas would get three more insurance goals from Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Michael Amadio to put the game out of reach and end Dallas' season after what had been a valiant effort in the last couple of games.

The Stars didn't have much of a response for most of the night.

Goalie Adin Hill once again had a terrific night in the crease as he continues a surprisingly excellent postseason after stepping in for Laurent Brossoit. Hill saved all 23 shots that he faced in the win

NHL Twitter was in awe of how dominant and in control Vegas was in the biggest game of its season.

Vegas will now return to the Stanley Cup Final and hope that it gets a different result than what happened in 2018 when it lost to the Washington Capitals in five games after a dominant postseason run.

The Golden Knights will take on the red-hot Florida Panthers, a No. 8 seed that started playing their best hockey of the year at the perfect time, eliminating the No. 1 overall seed Boston Bruins in the first round.

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is set for Saturday, June 3 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.

After being on the verge of flatlining, the Dallas Stars' heartbeat grew a little bit stronger Saturday night.

The Stars got a heroic effort out of an unexpected place in the form of winger Ty Dellandrea, who came up with two huge goals in the third period to help lead Dallas to a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

After going down 3-0 to start the series, it has now brought two games back and has struck some fear into the heart of Vegas as they try to avoid being the fifth team in league history to blow that type of series lead.

The Golden Knights struck first in each of the first two periods but each time the Stars were up to it with a response, setting the stage for a masterful third period by Dellandrea, who had just one postseason goal going into this game.

The Stars were also able to overcome a pretty strong performance by Vegas' goalie Adin Hill, who came up with 30 saves on the night.

It was always going to be a tall task for Dallas to go get a win on the road and they came through big time. It is now on the way to potentially make history in the postseason.

NHL Twitter couldn't help but be in awe of Dellandrea's clutch performance when his team needed it most.

In a development that probably no one saw coming, Dallas will now have an opportunity to force a Game 7 on on their home ice in Game 6 and will need something big out of star Tyler Seguin, who has struggled much of this series.

While the pressure will still be on the Stars, as they are on the brink of elimination, Vegas has to be feeling the heat now too, as it is flirting with the wrong side of history.

Game 6 is set for Monday night at 8 p.m. ET.

The Stars have some life.

After falling behind twice in the first two periods, Dallas avoided a sweep against the Vegas Golden Knights on its home ice thanks to an overtime winner from Joe Pavelski.

When Vegas' Jonathan Marchessault scored midway through the second period to give his team a 2-1 advantage, it looked like the Golden Knights had punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final and followed up the Florida Panthers with a sweep.

But Dallas was unwilling to lay down as Jason Robertson found an equalizer in the closing minutes of the period to knot things back up.

And thanks to some excellent goalkeeping from both sides in the third, neither team was able to get a winner in regulation.

Just over three minutes into overtime, Dallas played the power play to perfection, and Pavelski took full advantage, sinking one of the biggest goals of his career.

And NHL Twitter was loving every second of it.

Pavelski saved the Stars for a night, but there's still an immense mountain to climb as they are down 3-1 in the series. They are looking to become the fifth team in NHL history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit.

The last team to do it was the Los Angeles Kings nine years ago against the San Jose Sharks.

There may be no tougher task than the next one, going back to T-Mobile Arena and having to beat the Golden Knights on their home ice.

Game 5 is set for Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET.

Brett Howden didn't want to see Game 1 of the Western Conference Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars reach four overtimes.

After Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final saw Matthew Tkachuk score in the fourth OT to give the Florida Panthers a 1-0 series lead over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, Howden scored just 1:35 into overtime in Game 1 of Friday's Western Conference Final to lead the Golden Knights to a 4-3 win over the Stars.

The tally marked Howden's third goal of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs and first since he scored twice in Game 4 of Vegas' first-round series against the Winnipeg Jets. In addition to Howden, the Golden Knights received goals from William Karlsson, who scored twice, and Teddy Blueger.

The Stars saw Jason Robertson score his first goal since Game 5 of the team's first-round series against the Minnesota Wild, and Jamie Benn scored at the 18:01 mark of the third period to force overtime.

Roope Hintz also tallied his 10th goal of the postseason and now leads all players in playoff points.

Still, it was Howden who caught the attention of NHL fans on Twitter for his overtime heroics:

The Golden Knights will face an even bigger challenge in Game 2 against the Stars, which need to play a lot better than they did on Friday night if they hope to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

Game 2 between the Golden Knights and Stars is set for Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena.

Despite a herculean effort by superstar Connor McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers find themselves on the brink of elimination following a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knight in Game 5 on Friday night.

McDavid scored two of his team's goals, including a magnificent solo play early in the third period to cut the deficit to one, but it wasn't enough to overcome another strong performance by the Golden Knights on their home ice at T-Mobile Arena.

After Edmonton went up 2-1 going into the second period, Vegas poured in three goals in the second 20 minutes to take a commanding 4-2 lead and never fell behind again en route to taking a 3-2 lead in the series.

Golden Knights star Jack Eichel had a great game with a first-period goal to go along with two assists to help push his team to the win. Jonathan Marchessault also came up big with three assists for a playoff career high.

As for the Oilers, McDavid just needed a bit more help from the rest of his supporting cast, and they may have been able to pull off the road upset, but it wasn't meant to be.

Regardless, NHL Twitter was left in awe of McDavid's greatness once again despite the loss.

If the Oilers are going to mount a comeback in this series, they're going to need a couple of more clutch performances from McDavid, as well as contributions from the rest of the roster to help ease some of the pressure off the superstar's shoulders.

McDavid has been spectacular throughout the postseason, especially this series. He's had at least two points in every game except for one, a huge 5-1 loss in Game 3.

Luckily for Edmonton, the Oilers will have an opportunity to save their season on their home ice at the Rogers Place on Sunday in Game 6.

The NHL Department Player of Safety has suspended Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo for one game after he intentionally slashed Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl in Game 4 of the teams' second-round Stanley Cup playoff series on Wednesday.

The incident happened near the end of Edmonton's 4-1 home victory to tie the best-of-seven series at two games apiece. Draisaitl attempted to put the puck into an empty net with a minute-plus left.

Well after the shot, Pietrangelo skated over and delivered a two-handed slash to the Oiler star's left arm. Pietrangelo was given a major penalty and a game misconduct.

The department stated that Pietrangelo "ignored the play, raised his stick and delivered a slash to a vulnerable area of his opponent with sufficient force" in explaining its decision, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. This marks the first time Pietrangelo has been suspended or fined in his 15-year career.

The NHL Department of Player Safety held a hearing on the matter earlier Thursday before rendering a decision on Pietrangelo's intentional slash.

They also issued an automatic one-game suspension for Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse for instigating a fight in the final five minutes of regulation with Nicolas Hague.

Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff and ESPN's Greg Wyshynski provided commentary on the matter.

Vegas will host Edmonton for Game 5 on Friday at 10 p.m. ET.

On a night that felt like a must-win on their home ice, the Edmonton Oilers sorely missed a signature Connor McDavid performance.

McDavid, widely regarded as the best player in the NHL and who has had a tremendous postseason thus far, was contained by the Vegas Golden Knights in a 5-1 loss at Rogers Place on Monday night.

Coming off a three-point performance in Edmonton's Game 2 win in Las Vegas, McDavid couldn't conjure up much magic as his team was dominated throughout all three periods.

Things looked good for the Oilers to start things off as Warren Foegele gave them the early lead, but it wouldn't last long. Vegas' Jonathan Marchessault responded nearly two minutes later to even the score and got a second one right before the end of the first period to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead.

The second period was where things got really ugly for the home team as Vegas got a goal each from Zach Whitecloud, Jack Eichel and Chandler Stephenson.

Meanwhile, it seemed like everyone in the arena was waiting for McDavid and the rest of the squad to get things going, but that moment never came.

It wasn't too difficult of a night for Vegas goalie Adin Hill, who had to step in for starter Laurent Brossoit after he left the game in the first period with an injury following a save against McDavid.

Hill performed admirably, saving all 25 shots he faced.

NHL Twitter was tough on McDavid and the Oilers for their off-night.

Now, the Golden Knights have stolen home-ice advantage and hold a 2-1 series lead over Edmonton. All the pressure in the world will be on the Oilers and McDavid to come up with a big response in Game 4 to avoid falling into a dangerous 3-1 series deficit.

It's time for the world's best hockey player to have another masterclass.

Game 4 of the series is set for Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET.