This is the last chapter of the season for the
Cinderella-story Vegas Golden Knights as the first year NHL expansion team will
be going toe to toe with the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Finals
starting Monday, May 28th. The Golden Knights were longshots to even reach the
playoffs before the season faced off and were as high as 500/1 underdogs to win
the cup. However, they're now just four wins away from becoming the first team
in league history to win Lord Stanley's silverware in their inaugural season.
Of course, they're also four losses way from finishing as runners up as well.
But even losing in the finals is somewhat an historical
accomplishment for the club since just two previous expansion franchises have
gotten that far in their first season. They're also the first major
professional sports team in North America to reach the finals in their first
year of operation. The last team to do it was the 1967/68 St. Louis Blues. The
Blues had a bit of an advantage though since the NHL had expanded to 12 clubs
from six that season and one of the six expansion teams was guaranteed to reach
the finals.
In comparison to fellow NHL teams and other sports, the
Florida Panthers reached the Stanley Cup finals during their third season in
1995/96. The Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA title in 1971, three years after
joining the league and the Arizona Diamondbacks of MLB captured the World
Series in 2001 during their fourth season. On the other hand the Toronto Maple
Leafs, one of the richest teams in the NHL, haven't reached the Stanley Cup
finals since the 1966/67 campaign when they last hoisted the trophy. Vegas
swept the Los Angeles Kings in four games then downed the San Jose Sharks in
six and the Winnipeg Jets in five to reach this year's final series.
The Golden Knights will be taking on a club which has never
won a Stanley Cup either and will be making their first appearance in the
finals since 1997/98. The Capitals downed the Columbus Blue Jackets and
Pittsburgh Penguins in six games each in the first two rounds and just defeated
the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven in the Eastern Conference Final. The Caps won
the first two against Tampa, then lost three in a row before winning the final
two games by shutouts. The Capitals also won three of four games in Tampa and
scored the final nine goals of the series.
Vegas won the Pacific Division and finished the 2017/18
campaign with 109 points for the fifth-best record in the NHL. Meanwhile,
Washington reached 105 points, won the Metropolitan Division and were tied for
sixth-best with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The two teams met just twice during
the regular season with Vegas winning 3-0 at home on December 23rd and 4-3 in
Washington on February 4th. Heading into the finals, Vegas will have
the home ice advantage. They'll be facing a Washington team which has scored
3.47 goals per game in the playoffs to rank second and has allowed 2.47 goals
against to rank tied for third. Vegas has the second-best goals-against average
at 1.80 and have scored 2.87 goals per contest to rank ninth.
Labels: Ian Palmer