Golden Knights attempt not to think about Stanley Cup returning to Vegas on verge of title

Chandler Stephenson is aware of what that is like.

Five years in the past, he and his Washington Capitals teammates went into Las Vegas and gained the Stanley Cup, beating the Golden Knights in Game 5 of the ultimate. Now he’s on the Golden Knights, who go away Florida on the verge of successful their first championship.

“It’s a different game than the other ones: There’s a lot more emotion, a lot more everything,” Stephenson mentioned. “It’s one win away from a lot of dreams for a lot of guys.”

A dream they’re making an attempt not to consider – no less than not but.

Vegas can hoist the Stanley Cup as quickly as Tuesday by beating the Panthers on dwelling ice. But the speedy process for gamers and coaches is to not dwell on how shut they’re.

Veteran defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who captained the St. Louis Blues to their first title in franchise historical past 4 years in the past, mentioned it’s potential to overthink issues on this state of affairs.

PHOTOS: Golden Knights attempt not to think about Stanley Cup returning to Vegas on verge of title

His strategy now?

“Try and get your brain away from it,” Pietrangelo mentioned. “Get some rest, spend some time with our families and get ready to go back to work.”

The work up to now has been almost immaculate. Vegas has clearly been the higher crew within the last towards Florida, and absent a late comeback in Game 3 may need been flying dwelling Sunday with the Cup.

But the job isn’t finished but, and coach Bruce Cassidy is aware of all too properly what it’s prefer to be one win away. His Boston Bruins misplaced to Pietrangelo’s Blues in seven video games in 2019, so he’s not happy with getting so far, regardless of how properly his crew has performed to this point.

“We’ll hit the ice and we’ll work on some things we feel we can do better from the previous four games and keep our rhythm up and get our touches in and heart rate up, etc., and prepare for the last one,” Cassidy mentioned Sunday. “I think our preparation this time will be similar to what we’ve done with every other game. We know it’s a close-out game. I don’t have to tell the players that. They know what’s at stake.”

At stake, the dream Stephenson and some of his teammates have lived out. Pietrangelo, Ivan Barbashev, Alec Martinez and backup goaltender Jonathan Quick have lifted the Cup earlier than, whereas the remainder of their teammates who’ve performed this postseason haven’t.

Many have been on lengthy runs – the six authentic Knights gamers who misplaced to Stephenson and the Capitals in 2018 – plus guys similar to captain Mark Stone, who reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference last in 2017 with Ottawa. Stone doesn’t count on to change his strategy after it has labored so properly up to now.

“We understand the magnitude of the process, but we’re going to go home and take the game as if it’s one game for us,” Stone mentioned after successful Game 4 Saturday. “We ain’t changing anything. We’ll make minor adjustments to our game, for sure, but we want to continue to play our brand of hockey and be ready to go.”

The Panthers need to do one thing to vary the tide of the sequence. They scored twice to chop right into a three-goal deficit in Game 4, however their comeback bid fell brief to place them on the point of elimination.

Florida erased a 3-1 sequence deficit within the first spherical towards Boston, which set NHL data for probably the most wins and factors in a daily season. That expertise turns into useful now because the Panthers attempt to develop into the primary crew to win the ultimate after falling behind 3-1 since 1942.

“You draw on your routine from the last time, your last experience with it,” coach Paul Maurice mentioned. “There is in some ways an advantage to the team at times that’s down 3-1 in terms of the freedom mentally that it can play with. At the same time, you’re down 3-1 for a reason, so clearly the other team has been good. But we have some experience with this, and we’ll draw on it.”

The Golden Knights even have current expertise to attract from. They led Dallas 3-0 within the West last and acquired pushed to a Game 6 earlier than ending off the Stars with their finest efficiency of the season.

Replicating that may imply a Stanley Cup celebration on The Las Vegas Strip – one that everybody across the crew is making an attempt to not dwell on.