The 2023 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2022–23 season and the culmination of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers four games to one in the best-of-seven series to earn their first championship in their sixth season. Vegas had home ice advantage in the series with the better regular season record.
The series began on June 3, and concluded on June 13. This was the first Final series since 2018 in which neither team had previously won the Stanley Cup. For the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Final ran through the first weeks of June.
Paths to the Final
Florida Panthers
This was the second Final appearance for the Panthers. Their only previous appearance was in 1996, which they lost in a four-game sweep to the Colorado Avalanche.
During the offseason, former Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice was hired as the Panthers head coach. The Panthers made a large offseason acquisition, trading Jonathan Huberdeau, who led the team in points the previous year, along with MacKenzie Weegar to the Calgary Flames for Matthew Tkachuk. Tkachuk led the team in points this year with 109. Through free agency, the team acquired forwards Nick Cousins, Colin White, and Eric Staal, defenceman Marc Staal (Eric's brother), and goaltender Alex Lyon. The team also opted to re-sign forward Eetu Luostarinen and goaltender Spencer Knight. Midway through the regular season, the team claimed defenceman Casey Fitzgerald off of waivers.
The Panthers finished with a 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 the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins, who had set the NHL season records for points and wins, and defeated them in a game seven overtime. They then eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games during the second round and swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final. The Panthers became the fourth eighth seed to reach the Final, following the Edmonton Oilers in , the Los Angeles Kings in , and the Nashville Predators in .
Vegas Golden Knights
This was Vegas' second Final appearance. Their only previous appearance was in 2018, which they lost to the Washington Capitals in five games. The Golden Knights experienced immediate success after beginning play in 2017, 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 the previous season, which led to the firing of head coach Peter DeBoer.
During the offseason, the Golden Knights hired former Boston Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy as their head coach. They also acquired goaltender Adin Hill in a trade, re-signed Brett Howden, Reilly Smith, Keegan Kolesar, and Nicolas Roy, and also signed Phil Kessel, a two-time Stanley Cup champion during his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins, during free agency. At the trade deadline, the Golden Knights acquired forwards Ivan Barbashev (reuniting him with Alex Pietrangelo from the 2019 Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues) and Teddy Blueger, as well as goaltender Jonathan Quick who was flipped by the Columbus Blue Jackets from the Los Angeles Kings (reuniting him with defenceman Alec Martinez, both two-time Stanley Cup champions with the Kings).
The Golden Knights finished first in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference with 111 points via a record. Vegas defeated the Winnipeg Jets in five games during the first round, triumphed over the Edmonton Oilers during the second round in six games, and knocked off the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference final in six games.
Game summaries Note: The numbers in parentheses represent each player's total goals or assists to that point of the entire playoffs.
Game one
In game one, Florida began the scoring with a shorthanded goal by Eric Staal, scored on a wrap-around attempt. Vegas tied the game on a separate power play with Chandler Stephenson setting up Jonathan Marchessault's wrist shot beating Sergei Bobrovsky. 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's Anthony 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 by Ivan Barbashev deflecting back to Zach Whitecloud who scored for Vegas to make it 3–2. Later in the period, Matthew Tkachuk's clearing attempt was knocked down by Vegas captain Mark 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. With frustrations boiling over for Florida, both Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett were called for misconducts for attempting to fight some of the Golden Knights. 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.
+Game oneScoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1st FLA Eric Staal (2) – Anton Lundell (7) 09:40 1–0 FLA VGK Jonathan Marchessault (10) – Chandler Stephenson (7), Shea Theodore (8) 17:18 1–12nd VGK Shea Theodore (1) Brayden McNabb (3), Brett Howden (4) 10:54 2–1 VGK FLA Anthony Duclair (4) Unassisted 19:49 2–23rd VGK Zach Whitecloud (1) Ivan Barbashev (10), Jack Eichel (13) 06:59 3–2 VGK VGK Mark Stone (1) Unassisted 13:41 4–2 VGK VGK Reilly Smith (3) – pp – Jack Eichel (14) 18:15 5–2 VGKPenalty summaryPeriodTeamPlayerPenaltyTime1st FLA Nick Cousins Roughing 08:30 2:00 VGK William Carrier Roughing 11:42 2:00 FLA Josh Mahura Interference 16:27 2:002nd FLA Josh Mahura Tripping 03:28 2:00 VGK Shea Theodore Hooking 14:40 2:003rd VGK Nicolas Roy Hooking 07:12 2:00 FLA Eric Staal Cross-checking 10:04 2:00 FLA Bench (served by Zac Dalpe) Delay of game (unsuccessful coach's challenge) 13:41 2:00 FLA Matthew Tkachuk Roughing – double minor 15:36 4:00 VGK Chandler Stephenson Misconduct 15:36 10:00 FLA Sam Bennett Misconduct 15:36 10:00 FLA Matthew Tkachuk Misconduct 15:36 10:00 VGK Chandler Stephenson Roughing 15:36 2:00 FLA Sam Bennett Roughing 15:36 2:00 FLA Radko Gudas Misconduct 18:15 10:00 Shots by periodTeam123Total 9 14 12 35 7 14 13 34
Game two
In the first period of game two, the Golden Knights scored first on the power play as Jonathan 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 past Josh Mahura's block attempt and the puck went to the top of the net for a 2–0 lead. During the second period, Nicolas Roy gave Vegas a 3–0 lead, shooting the puck under Sergei Bobrovsky's blocker. Brett Howden then forced Florida to swap Bobrovsky for backup Alex Lyon, scoring forehand-backhand on Vegas' thirteenth shot. Following a hit on Jack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk and Ivan Barbashev both exchanged misconduct penalties for fighting after the whistle. In the third period, the Panthers ended Adin Hill's shutout bid as Anton Lundell scored just 14 seconds in. Vegas regained their four-goal lead as an all-alone Marchessault received a pass from Mark Stone and wristed a shot past Lyon. Michael Amadio then provided the sixth goal for Vegas, beating Lyon for a 6–1 lead. 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. 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. +Game twoScoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1st VGK Jonathan Marchessault (11) – pp Chandler Stephenson (8), Jack Eichel (15) 07:05 1–0 VGK VGK Alec Martinez (1) Ivan Barbashev (11) 17:59 2–0 VGK2nd VGK Nicolas Roy (2) William Carrier (3), Zach Whitecloud (5) 02:59 3–0 VGK VGK Brett Howden (4) Mark Stone (10), Chandler Stephenson (9) 07:10 4–0 VGK3rd FLA Anton Lundell (2) Anthony Duclair (7) 00:14 4–1 VGK VGK Jonathan Marchessault (12) Jack Eichel (16) 02:10 5–1 VGK VGK Michael Amadio (4) William Karlsson (5) 10:33 6–1 VGK FLA Matthew Tkachuk (10) Sam Bennett (8), Josh Mahura (3) 12:44 6–2 VGK VGK Brett Howden (5) – pp Michael Amadio (5), William Carrier (4) 17:52 7–2 VGKPenalty summaryPeriodTeamPlayerPenaltyTimePIM1st FLA Ryan Lomberg Cross-checking 06:39 2:00 FLA Brandon Montour Roughing 13:53 2:00 VGK Nicolas Roy Hooking 15:38 2:002nd VGK Ivan Barbashev Roughing 07:59 2:00 FLA Colin White Slashing 07:59 2:00 VGK Alex Pietrangelo Interference 10:01 2:00 VGK William Carrier Roughing 12:35 2:00 FLA Matthew Tkachuk Roughing 17:56 2:00 VGK Ivan Barbashev Roughing 17:56 2:00 VGK Ivan Barbashev Misconduct 17:56 10:00 FLA Matthew Tkachuk Misconduct 17:56 10:00 VGK Alex Pietrangelo Roughing 17:56 2:00 FLA Gustav Forsling Roughing 17:56 2:003rd FLA Carter Verhaeghe Cross-checking 03:01 2:00 FLA Matthew Tkachuk Misconduct 14:01 10:00 FLA Casey Fitzgerald Misconduct 16:14 10:00 VGK Keegan Kolesar Misconduct 16:14 10:00 FLA Anthony Duclair (served by Carter Verhaeghe) Cross-checking 16:28 2:00 FLA Anthony Duclair Abuse of officials – misconduct 16:28 10:00 FLA Eric Staal Misconduct 16:28 10:00 FLA Nick Cousins Misconduct 18:41 10:00 VGK Zach Whitecloud Misconduct 18:41 10:00 VGK Reilly Smith (served by Jonathan Marchessault) Cross-checking 19:52 2:00 FLA Sam Reinhart Misconduct 19:52 10:00 VGK Reilly Smith Misconduct 19:52 10:00 VGK Brett Howden Misconduct 19:52 10:00 Shots by periodTeam123Total 10 13 8 31 11 7 10 28
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 beat Adin Hill. Vegas was able to tie the game during a 4-on-3 power play when Jonathan Marchessault's shot got tipped in by Mark Stone. In the second period, Vegas gained another power play, during which Jack Eichel passed across to Marchessault who shot past Sergei 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 from Carter 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.
+Game threeScoring summaryPeriodTeamGoalAssist(s)TimeScore1st FLA Brandon Montour (7) Matthew Tkachuk (13), Eric Staal (3) 04:08 1–0 FLA VGK Mark Stone (8) – pp Jonathan Marchessault (10), Shea Theodore (9) 16:03 1–1 2nd VGK Jonathan Marchessault (13) – pp Jack Eichel (17), Mark Stone (11) 14:59 2–1 VGK3rd FLA Matthew Tkachuk (11) Carter Verhaeghe (10), Aaron Ekblad (6) 17:47 2–2 FLA Carter Verhaeghe (7) Sam Bennett (9), Gustav Forsling (5) 04:27 3–2 FLAPenalty summaryPeriodTeamPlayerPenaltyTimePIM1st VGK William Carrier High-sticking 06:01 2:00 FLA Marc Staal Tripping 12:14 2:00 FLA Radko Gudas Cross-checking 15:17 2:00 VGK William Carrier Boarding 15:17 2:00 FLA Anthony Duclair Tripping 15:40 2:002nd VGK William Carrier Tripping 00:24 2:00 FLA Aaron Ekblad Holding 04:56 2:00 VGK Brayden McNabb Hooking 08:00 2:00 FLA Aleksander Barkov Interference 14:13 2:00 VGK Alec Martinez Interference 16:26 2:00 FLA Anton Lundell Slashing 19:22 2:003rd VGK Jack Eichel Hooking 03:01 2:00 VGK Ivan Barbashev Roughing 10:37 2:00 FLA Radko Gudas Roughing 10:37 2:00 FLA Gustav Forsling Tripping 19:48 2:00OT None Shots by periodTeam123OTTotal 6 13 6 2 27 5 8 9 1 23
Game four