Stanley Cup soundbites after Golden Knights claim title

Eichel missed significant chunks of the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons while dealing with a significant neck injury. The 2015 second overall pick sought an artificial disk replacement surgery, which had never before been performed on an active NHL player, but the Sabres objected to the idea.

Vegas traded for Eichel in November 2021 and allowed him to undergo the procedure. He returned to the ice the following February and emerged in 2022–23 as the No. 1 center the Golden Knights needed to contend for a championship.

Eichel didn’t just lead the Golden Knights in playoff scoring. He led the entire league with 26 points in 22 games. Not bad for your first playoff run.

Phil the Thrill wins his third

After playing big roles in Boston, Toronto, Pittsburgh and Arizona, it would’ve been easy for Phil Kessel to feel a little left out after being sidelined for the vast majority of the Golden Knights’ championship run.

Kessel appeared in just four playoff games — none after the first round — after skating in all 82 for the Golden Knights during the 2022–23 regular season.

But the wily veteran said after Tuesday’s game that he cherished the ability to share his third Stanley Cup victory with his one-year-old daughter, Kapri, and to see the Golden Knights’ younger players win their first championship.

He also took the time to do a bit of reminiscing about his experience under the microscope with the Maple Leafs.

“It takes me back to my Toronto days,” Kessel told reporters during Tuesday’s celebration. “You guys said I couldn’t win, and now I’m a three-time champ. Remember that.”

As an aside — it certainly didn’t take long for Evgeni Malkin, Kessel’s old teammate in Pittsburgh, to share his own unique brand of congratulations on his personal Instagram account.

The 35-year-old Kessel also affirmed his intent to extend his NHL-record consecutive games played streak next season.

“Oh, yeah, I plan on playing,” Kessel told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. “Who knows where it’s at, but I feel young. I love to play.”

Kessel scored 14 goals and 36 points in 82 games with the Golden Knights during the 2022–23 regular season. No doubt, he’ll find a place to play next year.

“Alec Martinez only scores in Stanley Cup Finals”

Tuesday marked exactly nine years since Alec Martinez scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Los Angeles Kings against the New York Rangers in 2014.

For a few moments, it looked like he might replicate that feat on Tuesday. Martinez scored Vegas’ third goal in Game 5. Sam Reinhart scored a largely meaningless goal midway through the third period to make it a 7–2 hockey game, putting Martinez in striking distance of becoming the first player in NHL history to score a Cup-winning goal for two different teams.

Unfortunately for that particular narrative, Sam Bennett made it 7–3 less than three minutes later. At the end of the day, ex-Panthers forward Reilly Smith ended up getting credit for the deciding goal (although, given Vegas’ overall dominance on Tuesday, you could make a decent case that the game was “won” by a half-dozen different players).

Martinez was one of the first Golden Knights players to receive the Stanley Cup in the traditional handoff parade. And, in another callback to his Kings days, he elected to pass it off to reserve goaltender — and L.A. legend — Jonathan Quick.

“It’s kind of poetic, after what went down with him,” Martinez said, referencing the series of trade deadline moves that saw Quick briefly head to the bottom-feeding Columbus Blue Jackets before being flipped to Vegas. “I never thought I’d be handing the Cup off to him.”

Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t hesitate to acknowledge the clutch factor exhibited by the graybearded Martinez in his post-game media availability:

“Alec Martinez only scores in Stanley Cup Finals, apparently.”

Martinez wrapped up his 2023 playoff run with seven points — including two goals, both of which came against the Panthers — in 22 games. The 35-year-old has one year left on his contract, which will see him paid a $1.5 million signing bonus on top of a $4.25 million salary in 2023–24.

But the question will linger. Having now lifted the Stanley Cup for the third time in his impressive playing career, will Martinez now choose to go gentle into that good night?