NHL Pacific

Moments after making a critical save to solidify a 3-2 Game 4 victory over the Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill came up swinging.

The traffic around the net soon became a battle ground among the 11 players in the Golden Knights defensive zone, and it ended with nearly all of them on the ice.

The donnybrook occurred after an intense final 28 seconds that saw the Panthers scrambling to tie up the game late, but unlike in Game 3, the Golden Knights were able to hold on. As the players were wrestling on the ground, the Florida faithful tossed plastic rats onto the ice to provide even more chaos to the scene.

However, the enthusiasm for the moment was not just for fans at FLA Live Arena. Fans on Twitter showed appreciation for the throwback to old-time hockey.

The Panthers now face a 3-1 deficit, but that is not something that has held them up in the past. Game 5 is set to take place in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

One win away.

The Vegas Golden Knights are on the cusp of glory after defeating the Florida Panthers 3-2 in Game 4 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final at FLA Live Arena on Saturday night to take a 3-1 series lead over the Eastern Conference champions.

The Golden Knights were dominant in Saturday's game as they put themselves one way away from a Stanley Cup title.

Chandler Stephenson was undoubtedly the hero for Vegas as he not only opened the scoring just 69 seconds into the first period, but he also gave the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead at the 7:28 mark of the second period.

William Karlsson's second-period tally that put Vegas up 3-0 proved to be the game-winner as the Panthers clawed back into the game with a late second period goal from Brandon Montour before Aleksander Barkov put Florida within one at the 3:50 mark of the third period.

Florida's late push wasn't enough as Vegas played disciplined hockey down the stretch to shut down the Panthers and prevent them from tying the series.

With the Golden Knights one win away from their first Stanley Cup title, Vegas fans are dreaming of Lord Stanley making an appearance on the Strip:

The Golden Knights have been one of the most impressive teams in the NHL since their inaugural 2017-18 campaign. The franchise has made the Western Conference Finals in three of its six seasons and is playing in the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time.

As we saw during the first round of the playoffs, the Panthers have proven they can come back from down 3-1, having defeated the Boston Bruins to clinch a date with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round.

Florida will try to force a Game 6 on their home ice while Vegas will attempt to make history with the Stanley Cup in the building for Game 5 on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. ET.

BUFFALO -- History repeating itself is a fascinating occurrence, especially when it comes to generational talent in hockey.

In 2015, Connor McDavid was the heir apparent to Sidney Crosby as a franchise-changing superstar-to-be. That year, McDavid was followed closely behind by Jack Eichel and the lead-up to the draft saw teams tanking to have the chance to pick either of one of them. The Edmonton Oilers won the biggest prize in McDavid and the Buffalo Sabres, the league's worst team who had the best shot at the No. 1 pick, "settled" for No. 2 and Eichel.

Fast forward to the present day. Quite similarly to the 2014-15 season, teams decided to go all-in on being as bad as possible with the opportunity to draft Connor Bedard far too attractive. And just like McDavid had Eichel, Bedard has his own star-in-the-making behind him: University of Michigan star Adam Fantilli

While the Chicago Blackhawks are sitting in the same catbird seat as the Oilers were eight years ago, the Anaheim Ducks are poised to cash in with a superstar talent of their own at No. 2.

The parallels between Bedard and Fantilli haven't been as plainly stated as those between McDavid and Eichel, but the two young stars-to-be set to be picked at the end of June will forever be linked just the same. What's more, their talent backs it up.

"It's a season for the ages for both of them," NHL Director of Central Scouting Dan Marr said. "It's very difficult for a 17, 18-year-old to excel at the World Junior level and the way Connor had at every level that he played at and what Adam did, he was one of the younger players in the league and as a freshman, there's a lot at the college level, with seniors and juniors, the freshmen are at the bottom of the heap."

When you look at what Bedard and Fantilli did with their respective teams this season (Bedard with the Regina Pats of the WHL and Fantilli with Michigan) and compare them to what McDavid did with the Erie Otters and Eichel at Boston University during their draft years, you can see why it's such an accurate throwback to 2015.

2014-2015

McDavid: 47 games, 44 goals, 76 assists, 120 points (2.55 points per game)

Eichel: 40 games, 26 goals, 45 assists, 71 points (1.78 points per game)

2022-2023

Bedard: 57 games, 71 goals, 72 assists, 143 points (2.5 points per game)

Fantilli: 36 games, 30 goals, 35 assists, 65 points (1.81 points per game)

One guy excelled in the Canadian Hockey League while the other was the best of the best in the NCAA as a freshman. It's kind of spooky.

There is one slight difference between the pairs. Instead of a Canada versus United States rivalry like McDavid and Eichel, Bedard and Fantilli were teammates for Canada during World Juniors. That know each other doesn't do much to make things spicy in the grand sense, but they're competitors and they'll more than likely be rivals in the Western Conference very soon. There's also the fact that they've been in the same draft conversations for years now with Bedard being the prime focus all along. That suits Fantilli just fine.

"He's a phenomenal hockey player and he deserves everything he's getting," Fantilli said. "There's a lot of eyes on him, in terms of everything that he's going to be expected to do with the amount of success he's had in juniors and at an international level...we've been in entirely different situations and we're going to be drafted in different spots so it's going to be a different experience for both of us."

Bedard has been in the spotlight since he was granted exceptional player status by the CHL when he was 14 years old in 2020. He's been the focus of the hockey media ever since and his childhood dream is nearly fulfilled. But his eyes are on what's happening right now and staying in the moment.

"I'm focused on what's important and what I can control with my own play and my own team, of course," Bedard said. "You don't really think about that stuff, just some extra interviews and attention and whatnot. I'm just staying focused on what I need to be focused on and try to become a better player and a better person so that's how I handle it."

Bedard's focus is steely and straight ahead in the most McDavid ways imaginable, even if his description of what he's doing doesn't excite you. The goal is to make the NHL and then to become the best player he can be. That puts him straight in line to compete with the likes of McDavid, Eichel, Leon Draisaitl and the rest of the elite players in the world.

"There's a lot of words that start with 'C' that analytics can't judge for you like character, and one of them is consistency, and that he can consistently play that high character game, game in and game out, is truly impressive," Marr said.

Knowing what the first two picks of the draft are most likely going to be is not a new phenomenon in the NHL. Surprises like last year's draft where Juraj Slafkovský was the surprise No. 1 pick ahead of Shane Wright (who ultimately went fourth) are rare, so knowing the expected order of Bedard going No. 1 and Fantilli No. 2 makes this draft special and will forever link the two youngsters.

It circles back to the same dream the Oilers and Sabres had in 2015. Their example proves more has to go into making those picks to have success. That Eichel is front and center with the Vegas Golden Knights after things didn't work out with the Sabres shows the future isn't predetermined. But the greatness those players have will carry them forward The only questions left are how far they will go and how often they will have to go through each other to reach the top.

The Calgary Flames have found Darryl Sutter's replacement behind their own bench.

Ryan Huska, who has served as an assistant coach in Calgary since 2018, will be the Flames' next head coach, ESPN's Kevin Weekes reported Friday.

Calgary fired Sutter after three seasons when the Flames missed the playoffs this spring. Huska previously served as the head coach of Calgary's AHL affiliate the Stockton Heat, formerly the Adirondack Flames, from 2014 to 2018.

Under Huska's direction, the Flames' penalty kill finished fifth in the NHL with an 82.6% kill rate in 2022-23. Since Huska took over the unit five seasons ago, Calgary escaped 81.7% of penalties unscathed, good for sixth-best in the league during that span, according to the Score's Kayla Douglas.

In addition to his work on the man disadvantage, Huska is known in Calgary for his direct communication style, the Calgary Sun's Wes Gilbertson reported.

"Huska has a reputation as a strong communicator, something [general manager Craig Conroy] has mentioned time and time again as a crucial quality," wrote Gilbertson. "It speaks volumes that in two-plus decades in the coaching biz, he has never been fired."

Huska finished out his time in the AHL with a 135-118-27 record over four seasons, during which he coached future NHLers including Rasmus Andersson and Oliver Kylington. Prior to that, he spent seven seasons as head coach for the WHL's Kelowna Rockets.

The Rockets rose to the top of the WHL under Huska's leadership. Kelowna claimed the 2009 championship, then became the eighth club in WHL history to win 57 games in 2014. Meanwhile, Huska was tapped to serve as a Team Canada assistant for two IIHF World Junior Championships.

As a player, Huska was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the third round of the 1993 draft. He spent most of his career in the minor leagues, and won back-to-back WHL championships alongside Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla with the Kamloops Blazers.

Leading up to Sutter's firing were rumors that the Flames' former coach had created a negative environment for players that may have helped push current Florida Panther star Matthew Tkachuk out of Calgary. It seems Huska will need to overhaul that locker room culture to get the Flames back on track toward the 2024 postseason.

Vladislav Gavrikov's run with the Los Angeles Kings down the stretch this season was good enough to earn him a contract extension.

The Kings announced Wednesday they have signed the veteran defenseman to a two-year extension through 2024-25 worth $5.875 million per season.

The Kings acquired Gavrikov on March 1 in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He was fantastic after the deal with nine points and a plus-12 rating in 20 regular-season games.

The Kings lost in the first round of the playoffs to Edmonton Oilers, but Gavrikov continued his standout play. His plus-minus of plus-five led all players in the series.

Gavrikov's overall production dropped off this season (19 points in 72 games) compared to the 2021-22 season with the Blue Jackets (33 points in 80 games), but his performance after moving to a better situation in Los Angeles is an encouraging sign going forward.

This could be the first move in a busy offseason for the Kings. The Athletic's Michael Russo and Eric Duhatschek noted 2021 first-round pick Brandt Clarke, who appeared in nine games this season, and Tobias Bjornfot will likely be regulars in 2023-24.

Joonas Korpisalo's free agency is now the biggest question for Los Angeles' front office with Gavrikov re-signed. Pheonix Copley, who started a team-high 35 games at goalie, could become the starter if Korpisalo leaves.

There's a good foundation in place for the Kings to be a playoff contender again next season. Their 104 points during the regular season were the second-most in franchise history (105 in 1974-75), but they still haven't won a playoff series since they won the Stanley Cup in 2013-14.

The Anaheim Ducks named longtime NHL assistant coach Greg Cronin as their next head coach Monday.

"While we did cast a wide net in searching for the next head coach, it became clear to me that Greg would be the ideal fit for the position," Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek told reporters.

"Being a young team, I felt we needed a teacher of the finer points of the game, and someone who has worked extensively over time with talented young players, helping them develop into successful NHL players. Greg has done all that and more, and we are excited to name him head coach of the Anaheim Ducks."

Cronin, 60, had been serving as the head coach of the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League since 2018.

Before joining the Eagles, he was an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders for stints dating back to 1999. He also previously served as the head coach at Maine and Northeastern University, along with the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

"I'm excited and honored to be named head coach of the Anaheim Ducks," said Cronin. "This team has a fantastic future ahead, and I'm very grateful to the Samueli family and Pat Verbeek for entrusting me with this amazing opportunity."

The Ducks have failed to make the playoffs each of the last five seasons and fired Dallas Eakins in April. Eakins' tenure ended with a franchise-record 13 straight losses to close the 2022-23 season, and the Ducks finished last in the NHL standings.

Anaheim will have the No. 2 pick in the 2023 draft after dropping below the Chicago Blackhawks in the lottery. University of Michigan center Adam Fantilli is widely projected to be the No. 2 pick and could serve as a franchise cornerstone for Cronin's first attempt at winning at the NHL level.

Not all great sport stories are made in Hollywood.

In fact, one of the most fascinating and intriguing epics of the last 30 years was born about an hour south of Tinseltown in Anaheim, California with the founding of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

Founded by the Walt Disney Company in 1993 and based off the title of the popular Disney sports flick The Mighty Ducks, the early days of the franchise is set to be the subject of the next E60 documentary, 'Once Upon a Time in Anaheim.'

Set to premiere June 11 on ESPN and ESPN +, the documentary will follow how the organization, once seen as a Disney-run laughing stock, turned into one of the elite squads of the early 2000s.

The Mighty Ducks—who were changed to the Ducks ahead of the 2006-07 campaign—went on to win a Stanley Cup a little over a decade into their existence in 2007 after they had been sold by Disney in 2005.

Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner is set to be staple piece of the documentary along with players like Teemu Selänne and others.

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.