How Mark Stone Dominated the Stanley Cup Final
Vegas' captain had all the right answers against the Panthers
The best player in the Stanley Cup Final was a lumbering skater whom many considered a choke artist only one year ago.
No, not Matthew Tkachuk.
Mark Stone had his own demons to exorcise in the 2022-23 playoffs. While the 31-year-old winger wasn’t necessarily consistent throughout the Golden Knights’ run to the title, he stepped up on the sport’s biggest stage and buried a Florida squad that appeared impossible to put away.
Here’s how he toppled the Eastern Conference’s bullies.
Vision
Just as the Panthers’ commitment to puck pressure can create a string of turnovers, it can also create messy situations in their end. Capitalizing on this tendency is a matter of keeping your head in the face of their all-out blitz. It’s about hockey sense.
Stone’s profile happens to be built around that very attribute.
In fact, head coach Bruce Cassidy was so confident in his captain’s ability to exploit Florida’s aggressiveness that he handed his two-way star the most offensive deployment on the team. And it paid off in spades (4 assists in 5 games).
Thanks to Stone’s fast processor and deft touch, he punished Florida’s defenders every time they overextended:
He’s obviously a gifted passer—note how often he slips the puck through sticks and bodies and how crisp his one-touch setups are—but the real kicker is how well he orchestrates the flow of the game. Depending on your posture, he’ll press the issue or lay off the gas. He’ll pounce on direct lanes or stall, soak up attention and take advantage of the space you vacate.
This diverse brand of playmaking was especially potent against the Panthers because, when they aren’t swinging the hammer, the flaws in their foundation are glaring.
Here’s an example from Game 4:
After recovering a loose puck, Stone peeks into the heart of the defense and can’t find a viable passing option. He’s unlikely to beat the rangy Aleksander Barkov (FLA 16) to the net either, so he slams on the brakes and waits for the pieces to fall into place. Or out of place.
Even though Chandler Stephenson (VGK 20) begins this sequence at the same depth as Carter Verhaeghe (FLA 23), he beats the winger to his spot and Stone feeds him a one-timer in the middle of the ice.
Over this five-game series, Stone switched gears beautifully, always operating on a different wavelength than the Cats. A hair or two beyond their grasp.
As a result, he picked them apart.
Close-Range Offense
Once you got past the Panthers’ forecheck and defense, the final boss was Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Russian goaltender had demoralized and dispatched the Bruins, Leafs and Hurricanes. There were many nights on which he seemed unbeatable. Those teams took the wrong approach, though.
Against an acrobatic and red-hot netminder, the volume of chances is less important than the type of chances. Bobrovsky can stop clean looks with his hands tied behind his back. He’s that quick. But when you take his eyes away or launch your attacks right in his grill, he regresses to the lousy form that’s plagued him since signing a monster contract in 2019.
Stone, who adjusted his role this season to play tighter to the net, was thus tailor-made to solve him:
Every shot he attempts in this video originates from the middle hashes or closer. It’s tough to keep the opposition at bay when it’s already reached your doorstep. Consequently, it’s hard to tap into a rhythm.
And that was just the half of it. Stone’s play off the puck was equally vital to his club’s success. All series long, he posted up at the lip of the crease and tormented the Panthers via screens, deflections, etc. Sometimes, you forget that he’s a 6’3”, 217-pound forward. Tracking the puck through/around his body is no joke, and he offered plenty of reminders in the Stanley Cup Final.
Consider this one from Game 2:
Bobrovsky doesn’t see a thing.
His air of invincibility didn’t even last one night against Vegas’ blend of heavy traffic and below-the-dots offense—and Stone led the charge on both fronts.
He ranked first in goals (5) and points (9), and the Golden Knights were an absolute menace during his shifts (series-best 6.20 xGF/60 and 8.17 GF/60). This includes the power play, a sore spot that came to life in the SCF (31.6%). In all situations, no skater on either squad averaged more expected or actual goals:
That’s another way of saying he wasn’t simply opportunistic. He was dominant.
Whereas the Panthers’ previous opponents viewed Bobrovsky as a brick wall, Stone’s closer inspection revealed floodgates that were begging to be opened. So he crowded the slot, slapped his hardhat on and chipped away until the first leak grew into a full-blown torrent.
Spearheaded by their captain, the Golden Knights were the lone team to push back against the Panthers. They fought fire with fire, gained command of the trenches and…Florida imploded.
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.