Vegas dominant, leads 2-0
Jonathan Marchessault scored twice and started an early blitz that chased the NHL’s hottest postseason goalie, and the Vegas Golden Knights seized control of the Stanley Cup Final with a 7-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 2 on Monday night.
Adin Hill continued his stellar play in net with 29 saves in Las Vegas for the Golden Knights, who grabbed a
2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
"I think our depth has been a strength all year," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It is the biggest reason we are still here, why we beat Winnipeg, Edmonton, Dallas. I just feel that we have the best team from player one through 20.”
Marchessault also had an assist to finish with three points. His 12 postseason goals set a Golden Knights record, with all of them coming after the first round. Brett Howden scored twice for the Knights, who also got goals from Alec Martinez, Nicolas Roy and Michael Amadio.
Six players had at least two points for Vegas, and all 18 Knights skaters were on the ice for even-strength goals. It was too much for Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who was removed 7:10 into the second period down 4-0. It was the fifth time in 12 games the Knights have chased the opposing goalie.
“We can be a little better in front of our goaltender,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “I got him out to keep him rested.”
Matthew Tkachuk and Anton Lundell scored for Florida.
Teams that take a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final are 31-3 in the expansion era. The Panthers will try to buck history beginning with Game 3 on Thursday in Sunrise, Fla.
Ducks call on Cronin
Greg Cronin spent 36 years coaching at nearly every level of hockey before he finally got his first chance to be an NHL head coach.
The Arlington native believes the struggling but talented Anaheim Ducks will be worth that wait.
General manager Pat Verbeek hired the 60-year-old Cronin on Monday to lead the Ducks’ rebuilding effort out of the worst five-year stretch in franchise history. Cronin is a former NHL assistant and a former head coach in both the AHL and at Northeastern (2005-11), earning widespread praise for teaching strong principles and leading young players.
For Cronin, who spent the past five seasons leading the Colorado Avalanche’s successful AHL affiliate, the Ducks’ combination of bountiful young talent and a patient organization are ideal — and as a surfer and long-distance runner, he should fit into Orange County’s lifestyle as well.
“I think this is right [in] my wheelhouse as a coach,” Cronin said during a news conference at Honda Center in Anaheim. “I’ve worked my tail off to get to this point, and I can’t emphasize enough how happy I am to be here.”
Cronin has 12 years of experience as an NHL assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs and in two stints with the New York Islanders. He also played an important role in the creation of the USA Hockey national team development program in the late 1990s.
When Cronin’s hiring became public, he began receiving texts from players he had helped across his 3½ decades in the profession all the way back to the 1980s at the University of Maine, where he coached Ducks Hall of Famer Paul Kariya. Cronin has relationships at every level of hockey, and his knowledge and experience were just some of the reasons Verbeek called him “a tremendous fit.”
“I personally think this has been long overdue for [Cronin],” Verbeek said. “He brings a passion and an energy that is contagious. I was looking for someone that could develop a culture with high standards, work ethic, and accountability. Greg has an outstanding track record in those areas.”
Cronin replaces Dallas Eakins, whose contract wasn’t renewed in April after the Ducks finished their fourth consecutive losing season of his tenure. Anaheim finished last season in last place in the overall NHL standings at 23-47-12 and got the second overall pick in the draft lottery.
“There are certain things that are very doable,” Cronin said. “Everybody is going to compete at an extraordinary level. That’s kind of my mantra. And then you’ve always got to attach your compete level to your brain. You’ve got to be smart about how you do it.”
Just how long has Cronin been in this game? He briefly coached Eakins with the Islanders, and then he coached current Ducks center Ryan Strome during his second stint as an assistant on Long Island 15 years later.
But Cronin only got his first interview for an NHL head coaching job last year with his hometown Bruins. He immediately wowed Verbeek last month, in a scheduled two-hour interview that lasted five.
“I was looking for both a teacher and a coach,” Verbeek said. “Oldschool principles, but new-school methods of teaching.”
Among several mentors and influences on his coaching style, Cronin cited his former Isles bosses, Mike Milbury and Butch Goring, along with Randy Carlyle, the longtime Ducks head coach who employed Cronin with the Maple Leafs.
Cronin said Milbury’s no-nonsense style influenced his own dealings with players. He recalls a formative moment in the cavernous hallways under old Nassau Coliseum when Milbury confronted him about his worries over delivering tough instruction.
“He brought me in the doorway and said, ‘If you’re going to sugarcoat a message, then just get in your car and drive right back to Boston,’ ” Cronin recalled. “That hit me right between the eyes. He followed up with: ‘It doesn’t matter where you came from or how old you are. Players want to know you care about them, you’re honest, and you’re going to give them a positive message.’
“That stuck with me. Mike would say all the time, ‘Get into a player’s soul.’ ”
Habs extend Caufield
Montreal signed Cole Caufield to an eight-year, $62.8 million contract extension. The deal, which will pay the 22-year-old winger an average annual salary of $7.85 million, runs through the 2030-31 season.
Montreal’s 15th overall pick in the 2019 draft scored 26 goals and added 10 assists in 46 games in 2022-23 before he underwent season-ending surgery on his right shoulder in February.