The southernmost Stanley Cup Final in NHL history pits the Golden Knights against the Panthers, with Game 1 slated for Saturday in Las Vegas at 8 p.m. ET.

It will open the first-ever Final televised on TNT, with the contest also carried on TBS and truTV in the U.S. as well as on Sportsnet, CBC and TVA Sports in Canada.

The Panthers and Golden Knights will contest the League’s second Stanley Cup Final involving two “Sun Belt” teams and first since 2020 when Carter Verhaeghe and the Lightning squared off with the Stars in the neutral-site bubble at Rogers Place.

The 2023 Final will also mark the second to feature franchises that joined the NHL in the 1990s or later, following the 2007 championship series between the Ducks and Senators.

Florida, which ousted three of the NHL’s four highest-seeded teams in Boston, Carolina and Toronto, now faces Vegas which concluded the regular season atop the Western Conference and fifth place in the League standings overall. The Panthers will be the first team in NHL history to face four of the League’s five highest-seeded teams from the regular season during a single playoff year.

Vegas has eliminated four 100-point players from the regular season en route to reaching the Final (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Jason Robertson & Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) and will need to defeat one more in Matthew Tkachuk to win its first Cup in franchise history.

The Golden Knights became the first team to eliminate four or more 100-point scorers in a postseason since the Canadiens (6) and Islanders (4) in 1993.

The 2023 Stanley Cup Final will mark the sixth in the NHL’s modern era (since 1943-44) where both franchises are seeking their first championship, with the Golden Knights and Panthers involved in two of the five previous series over that span (also 2007, 1999 & 1991).

There are several notable connections between the franchises, including Jack Eichel set to square off with his ex-teammate Sam Reinhart as well as Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault and Nick Cousins facing their former franchises.

Source: media.nhl.com