First-year Golden Knights reach the Stanley Cup Final
Golden Knights will face either Tampa Bay or Washington in the Stanley Cup Final
The Vegas Golden Knights strengthened its case as the most successful first-year team in professional sports history on Sunday, beating the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final to win the series four games to one and advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
Vegas already set NHL records for an expansion team with 109 points and 51 wins, and were the first expansion team in any of the four major pro sports to win their division in their inaugural season.
Now, after sweeping the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and outlasting the San Jose Sharks in six games in the second round, Vegas finds itself 12-3 in the playoffs.
Again, this is the Golden Knights’ first season.
ON THIS DATE IN GOLDEN KNIGHTS HISTORY
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) May 19, 2018
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Actually, not much happened. We didn't have a team yet. Probably just had some meetings
Alex Tuch scored his second goal of the series for the Golden Knights in the first period on Sunday, his sixth of the playoffs. In the second period Ryan Reeves lit the lamp with the tiebreaker for the second playoff goal of his career, in his 42nd postseason game.
Marc-Andre Fleury has been the star of the postseason for the Golden Knights, and Sunday was no different. He saved 31 of his 32 shots faced and this postseason has an absurd .947 save percentage.
Though the Golden Knights’ success has been unprecedented this season, they aren’t the first NHL team to reach the Stanley Cup Final in their first season. In fact, it happens every 50 years like clockwork.
In 1918, the first year of the Stanley Cup, the Toronto Arenas reached the final, only to lose to the PCHL Vancouver Millionaires three games to two. Then in 1968, the expansion St. Louis Blues were under .500 but won two playoff series to get to the Stanley Cup Final, only to get swept by Montreal.
Vegas has a chance to avoid that fate soon, facing either the Tampa Bay Lightning or Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Final.