Slowly, the Vegas Golden Knights winning the Stanley Cup Final became a reality
There was some tension in the first period when the Florida Panthers were on the power play. This was a team with a loaded offensive roster, capable of scoring at will. However, Mark Stone silenced Florida and got the crowd hyped up, pouncing on a turnover in the defensive zone and scoring. It was 1-0 and Las Vegas was electric. Less than two minutes later, an odd-man rush led to a crazy scramble, with Nicolas Hague getting credited for a goal.
"GO, KNIGHTS, GO!"
That was all you could hear at Toshiba Plaza. Fans could taste the glory coming from the most prestigious prize in sports. They wanted to get drunk in its history.
Everyone was hopping up and down in the second period before Aaron Ekblad scored early in the second period. The crowd was quieter, yet Alec Martinez would get the crowd roaring again on a wrister. There was more certainty that Vegas would win the Stanley Cup Final, especially after Reilly Smith scored. Everyone was back to chanting and jumping for joy.
Then came Mark Stone with another and Michael Amadio with a buzzer-beater. For Vegas Golden Knights fans and the team, it was a matter of time before the story was complete. They would own the Stanley Cup playoffs and make Las Vegas the center of the hockey universe. For a community healing from the horrible events of the 2017 shooting, this would've been a fairy-tale ending. The fans were all in, whether it was a big Adin Hill save or a huge Keegan Kolesar hit.