2023 Stanley Cup Final
1 2 3 4 5 Total Florida Panthers 2 2 3* 2 3 1 Vegas Golden Knights 5 7 2* 3 9 4
* – Denotes overtime period(s)
Location(s)	Sunrise:FLA Live Arena (3, 4) Paradise:T-Mobile Arena (1, 2, 5)
Coaches	Florida:Paul Maurice Vegas:Bruce Cassidy
Captains	Florida:Aleksander Barkov Vegas:Mark Stone
National anthems	Florida:Phillip Phillips (3) Cassadee Pope (4) Vegas: Carnell Johnson
Referees	Steve Kozari (2, 4) Wes McCauley (1, 4) Dan O'Rourke (1, 3) Chris Rooney (2, 5) Kelly Sutherland (3, 5)
Dates	June 3–13, 2023
MVP	Jonathan Marchessault (Golden Knights)
Series-winning goal	Reilly Smith (12:13, second, G5)
Networks	Canada: (English):CBC/Sportsnet (French):TVA Sports United States: (English):TNT/TruTV,TBS (1–4)
Announcers	(CBC/SN)Chris Cuthbert andCraig Simpson (TNT/TruTV/TBS)Kenny Albert,Eddie Olczyk, andKeith Jones (NHL International) E. J. Hradek andKevin Weekes[1]
← 2022 Stanley Cup Final 2024 →

The2023 Stanley Cup Final was thechampionship series of theNational Hockey League's (NHL)2022–23 season and the culmination of the2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. TheWestern Conference championVegas Golden Knights defeated theEastern Conference championFlorida Panthers four games to one in thebest-of-seven series to earn their first championship in their sixth season.^[2] Vegas had home ice advantage in the series with the better regular season record.^[3]

The series began on June 3, and concluded on June 13.^[3] This was the first Final series since2018 in which neither team had previously won the Stanley Cup.^[4] For the first time since before theCOVID-19 pandemic, the Final ran through the first weeks of June.^[3]

This was the second Final appearance for the Panthers. Their only previous appearance was in1996, which they lost in a four-game sweep to theColorado Avalanche.^[5]

During the offseason, formerWinnipeg Jets head coachPaul Maurice was hired as the Panthers head coach.^[6] The Panthers made a large offseason acquisition, tradingJonathan Huberdeau, who led the team in points the previous year, along withMacKenzie Weegar to theCalgary Flames forMatthew Tkachuk.^[7] Tkachuk led the team in points this year with 109. Through free agency, the team acquired forwardsNick Cousins,^[8]Colin White,^[9] andEric Staal,^[10] defencemanMarc Staal (Eric's brother),^[11] and goaltenderAlex Lyon.^[12] The team also opted to re-sign forwardEetu Luostarinen and goaltenderSpencer Knight.^[13][14] Midway through the regular season, the team claimed defencemanCasey Fitzgerald off of waivers.^[15]

The Panthers finished with a42–32–8 record and obtained the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference with 92 points, the lowest point total of any playoff team. In the first round, the Panthers overcame a 3–1 series deficit against thePresidents' Trophy-winningBoston Bruins, who had set the NHL season records for points and wins, and defeated them in a game seven overtime.^[16] They then eliminated theToronto Maple Leafs in five games during the second round and swept theCarolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final.^[17][18] The Panthers became the fourth eighth seed to reach the Final, following theEdmonton Oilers in2006, theLos Angeles Kings in2012, and theNashville Predators in2017.^[19]

This was Vegas' second Final appearance. Their only previous appearance was in2018, which they lost to theWashington Capitals in five games.^[20] The Golden Knights experienced immediate success after beginning play in2017, reaching the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season and qualifying for the playoffs in their first four. However, they missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history theprevious season, which led to the firing of head coachPeter DeBoer.^[21]

During the offseason, the Golden Knights hired formerBoston Bruins coachBruce Cassidy as their head coach.^[21] They also acquired goaltenderAdin Hill in a trade,^[22] re-signedBrett Howden,^[23]Reilly Smith,^[23]Keegan Kolesar,^[24] andNicolas Roy,^[25] and also signedPhil Kessel, a two-time Stanley Cup champion during his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins, during free agency.^[26] At the trade deadline, the Golden Knights acquired forwardsIvan Barbashev (reuniting him with Alex Pietrangelo from the2019 Stanley Cup championSt. Louis Blues) andTeddy Blueger,^[27][28] as well as goaltenderJonathan Quick who was flipped by theColumbus Blue Jackets from theLos Angeles Kings (reuniting him with defenceman Alec Martinez, both two-time Stanley Cup champions with the Kings).^[29]

The Golden Knights finished first in thePacific Division and theWestern Conference with 111 points via a51–22–9 record. Vegas defeated theWinnipeg Jets in five games during the first round,^[30] triumphed over theEdmonton Oilers during the second round in six games,^[31] and knocked off theDallas Stars in the Western Conference final in six games.^[32]

Note: The numbers in parentheses represent each player's total goals or assists to that point of the entire playoffs.

In game one, Florida began the scoring with a shorthanded goal byEric Staal, scored on a wrap-around attempt. Vegas tied the game on a separate power play withChandler Stephenson setting upJonathan Marchessault's wrist shot beatingSergei Bobrovsky.^[33] In the second period,Shea Theodore's long range shot found its way past Bobrovsky, giving Vegas a 2–1 lead. With ten seconds remaining and a faceoff in the Golden Knights zone, the Panther'sAnthony Duclair picked up a loose puck and fired a wrist shot past Hill to make it 2–2. In the third period, the Golden Knights led a rush into the Panther's zone with a shot byIvan Barbashev deflecting back toZach Whitecloud who scored for Vegas to make it 3–2. Later in the period,Matthew Tkachuk's clearing attempt was knocked down by Vegas captainMark Stone, who shot it past Bobrovsky for a 4–2 lead. Florida challenged the play as Stone's stick could have been above his shoulders, which would have been a stoppage of play. Florida was unsuccessful in their challenge and assessed a minor penalty.^[34] With frustrations boiling over for Florida, bothMatthew Tkachuk andSam Bennett were called for misconducts for attempting to fight some of the Golden Knights.^[35]Reilly Smith then sealed Vegas' victory with an empty net goal to make it 5–2. The victory broke Florida's road-winning streak at eight games.^[36]

In the first period of game two, the Golden Knights scored first on the power play asJonathan Marchessault shot through a screen to beat the Florida goaltender over the shoulder. Later in the period, with Vegas in possession in the Florida zone,Alec Martinez shot pastJosh Mahura's block attempt and the puck went to the top of the net for a 2–0 lead.^[38] During the second period,Nicolas Roy gave Vegas a 3–0 lead, shooting the puck underSergei Bobrovsky's blocker.^[39]Brett Howden then forced Florida to swap Bobrovsky for backupAlex Lyon, scoring forehand-backhand on Vegas' thirteenth shot.^[40] Following a hit onJack Eichel,Matthew Tkachuk andIvan Barbashev both exchanged misconduct penalties for fighting after the whistle.^[41] In the third period, the Panthers endedAdin Hill's shutout bid asAnton Lundell scored just 14 seconds in. Vegas regained their four-goal lead as an all-alone Marchessault received a pass fromMark Stone and wristed a shot past Lyon.^[42]Michael Amadio then provided the sixth goal for Vegas, beating Lyon for a 6–1 lead.^[43] Tkachuk then brought the lead back down to four as his first goal of the series beat Hill. Later in the period, with Florida releasing their frustration, Vegas gained a power play.^[44] During the power play, Howden's second goal of the game ended any hopes of a Florida comeback, scoring to give Vegas a 7–2 lead, also the final score of the game.^[45][46]

Matthew Tkachuk (left), shown with Calgary, scored the game-tying goal, whileCarter Verhaeghe (right) scored the overtime winner in game three.

Back in Florida for game three,Brandon Montour began the scoring for the Panthers in the first period as his shot from the left circle beatAdin Hill. Vegas was able to tie the game during a 4-on-3 power play whenJonathan Marchessault's shot got tipped in byMark Stone. In the second period, Vegas gained another power play, during whichJack Eichel passed across to Marchessault who shot pastSergei Bobrovsky into the top-left corner for a 2–1 Golden Knights lead. In the third period, with the Florida goaltender pulled for an extra attacker,Matthew Tkachuk scored on a rebound fromCarter Verhaeghe to tie the game 2–2. With the game in overtime, Verhaeghe fired a wrist shot past Hill giving Florida a 3–2 victory and their first win in the Stanley Cup Final in franchise history.^[48]

In game four, Vegas began the scoring 1:39 into the first period asZach Whitecloud made a cross-ice pass toChandler Stephenson, who maneuvered through all Florida defenders and shot the puck pastSergei Bobrovsky.^[50] Stephenson continued his scoring into the second period as a pass byMark Stone found its way to the forward whose one-timer beat Bobrovsky for a 2–0 Vegas lead. Following soon after,William Karlsson picked upNicolas Hague's rebound shot and gave the Golden Knights a 3–0 lead. With less than four minutes remaining in the period, Florida defencemanBrandon Montour shot the puck at the net and it deflected offBrayden McNabb andShea Theodore pastAdin Hill to cut Vegas' lead to two goals. Florida then cut their deficit to one goal as the Panthers rushed into the Vegas zone, Montour backhanded a pass to captainAleksander Barkov whose fired past Hill from the right circle. Vegas maintained their 3–2 lead, including fending off a power play with 17.4 seconds left, as Hill stopped 29 of 31 shots to give the Golden Knights a 3–1 series lead.^[51]

Mark Stone (left) scored a hat trick, whileReilly Smith (right) scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in game five.

In game five, the Golden Knights began the scoring on a shorthanded rush asMark Stone outwaitedSergei Bobrovsky to beat him on the glove side.^[53] The Golden Knights doubled their lead asJack Eichel's shot bumped over Bobrovsky's shoulder and got covered, but was quickly poked away. With the free puck,Nicolas Hague scored for Vegas.^[54] The Panthers made it 2–1 early in the second period asNick Cousins forced a turnover in the Vegas defensive zone and passed it to defencemanAaron Ekblad whose long range shot made its way into the net.^[55] The Golden Knights recovered their two-goal lead as a stretch pass byAlex Pietrangelo made its way to Eichel who then dropped a pass toAlec Martinez and he shot it past Bobrovsky.^[56]Reilly Smith soon gave the Golden Knights a 4–1 lead as he fired in a between-the-legs pass fromWilliam Karlsson. Stone's second goal made it 5–1 as aChandler Stephenson-led rush led to a cross-ice pass fromBrett Howden, which Stone then shot between Bobrovsky's pads for his second goal of the game.^[57]Michael Amadio extended the Golden Knights lead to 6–1 with two seconds remaining; after pushing the puck towards the Panthers goaltender and being pushed himself into the net by a Panther defenceman, the puck found its way under Bobrovsky and in.^[58] In the third period, Vegas made the game a rout, withIvan Barbashev scoring Vegas' seventh goal of the game. Florida brought their deficit down to five when a quick shot bySam Reinhart hit the top corner pastAdin Hill.^[59]Sam Bennett then dropped Florida's deficit to four goals as his long range shot was deflected into the net.^[60] With approximately six minutes remaining in the game, Florida head coachPaul Maurice opted to go for an empty net.^[61] However, Stone scored on the empty net to complete his hat trick, making it 8–3. His hat trick, the 40th to occur in the Stanley Cup Final,^[62] was the first since1996, which was also against the Panthers,^[63] and the first to occur in a Cup-winning game since1922.^[64]Nicolas Roy potted Vegas' ninth goal of the evening with 1:02 remaining to seal the Golden Knights victory and their first Stanley Cup.^[65] Vegas' nine goals set a new record for goals scored in a Cup-clinching game, surpassing the 8–0 score by which thePittsburgh Penguins clinched the title in1991,^[66] and tied the record for most goals by a team in a Final's game, previously set by theDetroit Red Wings in1936 and later matched by theToronto Maple Leafs in1942.^[67][68]

Jonathan Marchessault was awarded theConn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs,^[65] becoming the firstundrafted player to win the award sinceWayne Gretzky in1988.^[69] Vegas became the second fastest team to win the Stanley Cup as an expansion franchise, following theEdmonton Oilers in1984.^[70] Marchessault,William Carrier,William Karlsson,Brayden McNabb,Reilly Smith, andShea Theodore were the only players from the Golden Knights'expansion draft,inaugural season, and2018 Stanley Cup Final campaign to remain with the team up until the Stanley Cup victory; this group of players earned the collective monikers "Golden Misfits" and "Original Misfits".^[71][72] The win gave the state ofNevada and theLas Vegas metropolitan area its first ever major (North American "Big Four") men's professional sports championship, and the first ever championship for a North American Big Four men's professional sports team founded in the 21st century.^[a][73]

Chandler Stephenson, who previously defeated Vegas for the Cup in 2018 as a member of theWashington Capitals, became the third player of theexpansion era to win a Cup with a team he previously defeated for it, joiningScott Niedermayer (withNew Jersey in2003 andAnaheim in2007) andBilly Carroll (with theNew York Islanders in1983 andEdmonton in1985).^[74]

Meanwhile, the Panthers were one of two South Florida teams to lose major championships within two days, as theMiami Heat also lost the2023 NBA Finals to theDenver Nuggets one day prior.^[75]

Years indicated inboldface under the "Final appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.

^[77]

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Age	Acquired	Place of birth	Final appearance
16		Aleksander Barkov –C	C	L	27	2013	Tampere, Finland	first
9		Sam Bennett	C/W	L	26	2021	East Gwillimbury, Ontario	first
72		Sergei Bobrovsky	G	L	34	2019	Novokuznetsk, Soviet Union	first
21		Nick Cousins	C	L	29	2022	Belleville, Ontario	first
22		Zac Dalpe	C	R	33	2021	Paris, Ontario	first
14		Grigori Denisenko	RW	R	22	2018	Novosibirsk, Russia	first
10		Anthony Duclair	LW	L	27	2020	Pointe-Claire, Quebec	first
5		Aaron Ekblad –A	D	R	27	2014	Windsor, Ontario	first
4		Casey Fitzgerald	D	R	26	2023	Boca Raton, Florida	first
42		Gustav Forsling	D	L	26	2021	Linköping, Sweden	first
7		Radko Gudas	D	R	32	2020	Kladno, Czechoslovakia	first
94		Ryan Lomberg	W	L	28	2020	Richmond Hill, Ontario	first
15		Anton Lundell	C	L	21	2020	Espoo, Finland	first
27		Eetu Luostarinen	C	L	24	2020	Siilinjärvi, Finland	first
34		Alex Lyon	G	L	30	2022	Baudette, Minnesota	first
28		Josh Mahura	D	L	25	2022	St. Albert, Alberta	first
62		Brandon Montour	D	R	29	2021	Ohsweken, Ontario	first
13		Sam Reinhart	C	R	27	2021	North Vancouver, British Columbia	first
54		Givani Smith	RW	L	25	2022	Toronto, Ontario	first
12		Eric Staal	C	L	38	2022	Thunder Bay, Ontario	third(2006,2021)[78][79]
18		Marc Staal	D	L	36	2022	Thunder Bay, Ontario	second(2014)[80]
19		Matthew Tkachuk –A	LW	L	25	2022	Scottsdale, Arizona	first
23		Carter Verhaeghe	C	L	27	2020	Waterdown, Ontario	second(2020)[81]
6		Colin White	C	R	26	2022	Hanover, Massachusetts	first

^[82]

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Age	Acquired	Place of birth	Final appearance
22		Michael Amadio	RW/C	R	27	2021	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario	first
49		Ivan Barbashev	C	L	27	2023	Moscow, Russia	second(2019)[83]
53		Teddy Blueger	C	L	28	2023	Riga, Latvia	first
39		Laurent Brossoit	G	L	30	2021	Port Alberni, British Columbia	first(did not dress)
28		William Carrier	LW	L	28	2017	LaSalle, Quebec	second(2018)[84]
43		Paul Cotter	C/LW	L	23	2018	Canton, Michigan	first(did not play)
9		Jack Eichel	C	R	26	2021	North Chelmsford, Massachusetts	first
14		Nicolas Hague	D	L	24	2017	Kitchener, Ontario	first
33		Adin Hill	G	L	27	2022	Comox, British Columbia	first
21		Brett Howden	C	L	25	2021	Oakbank, Manitoba	first
17		Ben Hutton	D	L	30	2021	Brockville, Ontario	first
71		William Karlsson	C	L	30	2017	Märsta, Sweden	second(2018)[84]
8		Phil Kessel	RW	R	35	2022	Madison, Wisconsin	third(2016,2017)[85][86]
55		Keegan Kolesar	RW	R	26	2017	Brandon, Manitoba	first
81		Jonathan Marchessault	RW	R	32	2017	Cap-Rouge, Quebec	third(2015,2018)[87][84]
23		Alec Martinez	D	L	35	2020	Rochester Hills, Michigan	third(2012,2014)[88][80]
3		Brayden McNabb	D	L	32	2017	Davidson, Saskatchewan	second(2018)[84]
94		Brayden Pachal	D	R	23	2019	Estevan, Saskatchewan	first
7		Alex Pietrangelo –A	D	R	33	2020	King City, Ontario	second(2019)[83]
32		Jonathan Quick	G	L	37	2023	Milford, Connecticut	third(2012,2014)[88][80]
10		Nicolas Roy	C/RW	R	26	2019	Amos, Quebec	first
19		Reilly Smith –A	RW	L	32	2017	Etobicoke, Ontario	second(2018)[84]
20		Chandler Stephenson	C	L	29	2019	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	second(2018)[84]
61		Mark Stone –C	RW	R	31	2019	Winnipeg, Manitoba	first
27		Shea Theodore	D	L	27	2017	Langley, British Columbia	second(2018)[84]
36		Logan Thompson	G	R	26	2020	Calgary, Alberta	first(did not dress)
2		Zach Whitecloud	D	R	26	2018	Brandon, Manitoba	first

The Stanley Cup was presented to Golden Knights captain Mark Stone byNHL commissionerGary Bettman following the Golden Knights' 9–3 win in game five.

The following Golden Knights players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup:^[89][90]

2022–23 Vegas Golden Knights

• * Played both centre and wing.
• † Did not play or dress in Final.
• ‡ Exemption granted to engrave the name of a player who did not automatically qualify.^[b][A]

• ^{^A} Vegas successfully requested an exemption to engrave the names of four players who did not automatically qualify:^[b]
  • #53Teddy Blueger (C) played in 63 regular season games (45 with thePittsburgh Penguins and 18 with the Golden Knights), plus six playoff games (two in the second round, four in the Western Conference Final).
  • #17Ben Hutton (D) played in 31 regular season games and two playoff games (one each in the first and second round).
  • #39Laurent Brossoit (G) played in 11 regular season games and eight playoff games (five in the first round, three in the second round) before missing the remainder of the playoffs due to injury.
  • #94Brayden Pachal (D) played in ten regular season games and one playoff game in the first round.
• WithAdin Hill,Jonathan Quick, andLogan Thompson all automatically qualified for engraving, andLaurent Brossoit added via exemption, Vegas became the first team in NHL history to have four goaltenders engraved on the Cup; the previous high of three goaltenders was most recently reached by the2016 Pittsburgh Penguins (withMatt Murray,Marc-André Fleury, andJeff Zatkoff).^[91][92]

• Fourteen players were on the roster during the Final were left off the Stanley Cup engraving due to not qualifying.^[b] None appeared in the playoffs (they were healthy scratches, except for injured playersRobin Lehner andNolan Patrick). They received championship rings.^[93][94][95]
  • #16Pavel Dorofeyev (LW) – 18 regular season games
  • #65Dysin Mayo (D) – 0 regular season games with Vegas, 15 regular season games withArizona
  • #46Jonas Rondbjerg (RW) – 13 regular season games
  • #6Kaedan Korczak (D) – 10 regular season games
  • #51Byron Froese (C) – 9 regular season games
  • #30Jiri Patera (G) – 2 regular season games
  • #56Sheldon Rempal (RW) – 1 regular season game
  • #40Lukas Cormier (D) – 0 regular season games, 62 withHenderson of theAmerican Hockey League (AHL)
  • #24Brendan Brisson (C) – 0 regular season games, 58 with Henderson of the AHL
  • #11Ivan Morozov (C) – 0 regular season games, 58 with Henderson of the AHL
  • #5Daniil Chayka (D) – 0 regular season games, 57 with Henderson of the AHL
  • #31Isaiah Saville (G) – 0 regular season games, 10 with Henderson of the AHL
  • #90Robin Lehner (G) – missed the entirety of the 2022–23 season due to injury (spent entire season with Vegas)
  • #41Nolan Patrick (C) – missed the entirety of the 2022–23 season due to injury (spent entire season with Vegas)

For the first time since2019, before theCOVID-19 pandemic began, both the Cup Final and theNBA Finals roughly coincided during the first weeks of June.^[3][96] As with prior years since at least2016 when both leagues hold their respective championship series at roughly the same time, games of the Cup Final are scheduled on different days than those of the2023 NBA Finals, typically on the day prior to or after the other league's games.^[97]

In Canada, this was the ninth consecutive Stanley Cup Final broadcast bySportsnet andCBC Television in English, andTVA Sports in French. The series was also streamed on Sportsnet Now.^[98]

In the United States, the series was televised byTNT under the second year of a seven-year deal in which the network gets the Final in odd years andABC gets the Final in even years. This marked the first time that the Stanley Cup Final did not air in part on U.S. broadcast television since1994. As is common for other major events broadcast byWarner Bros. Discovery Sports (such as theNCAA men's basketball national championship), all games were aired insimulcast across multipleTurner Broadcasting channels, includingTBS (except for games held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays due toMLB on TBS Tuesday Night andAEW Dynamite respectively) andTruTV.^[99]

• 2023 Stanley Cup Final at NHL.com

• 2022–23 NHL season
• 2023 Stanley Cup
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