Expansion dream: Vegas in Cup Final
WINNIPEG, Manitoba— The Vegas Golden Knights are going to the Stanley Cup Final — with a chip on their shoulder.
“Everybody on this team has something to prove,” Ryan Reaves said. “We call ourselves ‘ The Golden Misfits’ for a reason. We’re doing a good job of proving everybody wrong.”
Reaves scored the winning goal, Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves and the Golden Knights defeated the Jets 2- 1 on Sunday towin the Western Conference final in five games.
“It’s insane,” defenseman Deryk Engelland said. “Your goal is always to make the playoffs. But if I were to guess I would be sitting here doing this right now, you would be a little skeptical at the time.”
Alex Tuch also scored for the Knights. They lost Game 1 in Winnipeg before winning four consecutive games to become the first expansion team since the 1968 St. Louis Blues— when the six initial expansion teams were all put in the West— to get to the final.
“It was their time,” the Jets’ Blake Wheeler said. “They’re just playing really well.”
Vegas will meet either the Lightning or Capitals in the final. The Lightning lead the Eastern Conference final 3- 2, with Game 6 on Monday night in Washington.
The Knights, whose jaw- dropping inaugural 109- point campaign included a Pacific Division crown, swept Los Angeles in the first round and knocked out San Jose in six games in the second.
“All those records and everything, it doesn’t mean anything if you’re not the last team standing,” Vegas center Jonathan Marchessault said. “I think we have a lot of gas left.”
Reaves, the bruising Winnipeg native acquired from the Penguins before the trade deadline in February, snapped a 1- 1 tie with 6: 39 left in the second period when he tipped Luca Sbisa’s point shot past Connor Hellebuyck. Reeves’ last goal before Sunday came 3 ½ months ago while with Pittsburgh.
“The guys that weren’t playing, myself included, we stayed ready,” Reaves said. “We had fun while we were doing it, but we worked hard so when we were called upon, we were ready to go.”
Fleury stopped 151 of 161 shots in the series and allowed just six goals the rest of the way after giving up four in the opener.
“Everybody’s stepping up at different times,” Fleury said.
Josh Morrissey scored and Hellebuyck made 30 saves for the Jets, who were an NHL- best 32- 7- 2 at home in the regular season but only 5- 4 there in the playoffs.