The Sixteen: Vegas' Win in Game 4 of Final Put Stanley Cup in Reach

The scene shifted to South Florida for Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Final after the Vegas Golden Knights won both games at home to take a 2-0 series lead. Vegas made the cross-country flight in search of a pair of wins and a Stanley Cup title, but fell short in overtime of Game 3. The Golden Knights looked for a bounce-back performance in Game 4 in hopes of setting themselves up for a clinching scenario on home ice.

In Summerlin, fans were waiting in line for the watch party at the Las Vegas Ballpark.

Things went Vegas' way early as Chandler Stephenson scored less than two minutes into Game 4.

The rest of the first period passed without a goal as the Golden Knights looked to keep the ball rolling in the second. Stephenson scored his second goal of the game at the 7:28 mark to give Vegas a 2-0 lead.

The fans at the Las Vegas Ballpark were on their feet after Stephenson's perfectly timed shot that beat Sergei Bobrovsky. Four minutes after Stephenson's goal, William Karlsson extended the lead to 3-0 Golden Knights.

Momentum was with the Golden Knights until Brandon Montour's goal late in the second period that got Florida on the board. The margins became tighter early in the third period as Aleksander Barkov cut the Vegas lead to 3-2.

The Golden Knights held off the Panthers for the 3-2 win in Game 4 as they carried a 3-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final back to Vegas for Game 5.

Amidst a downpour of debris that included plastic rats after the final horn, some Golden Knights players found a victory flamingo mixed in with the unexpected precipitation.

"They pushed back. We knew they would," Nicolas Roy said after the win. "They've been doing it all series. But it's nice to get that one for sure."

Although emotions were riding high and the guys were excited, the job still wasn't finished, and they all knew what was at stake as the series would shift back to home ice for Game 5.

"There's a lot of emotion," Chandler Stephenson said of being one win away. "Being at home too, the fans, everyone's going to be into it."

Scoring Summary
1st 1:39 | Chandler Stephenson (9) from Zach Whitecloud, Mark Stone

2nd 7:28 | Chandler Stephenson (10) from Mark Stone, Nicolas Hague
2nd 11:04 | William Karlsson (11) from Nicolas Hague, Jonathan Marchessault
2nd 16:09 | Brandon Montour (8) from Aleksander Barkov

3rd 3:50 | Aleksander Barkov (5) from Brandon Montour, Anton Lundell