Original 'Misfits' get Golden Knights started to Cup-clinching Game 5 win

LAS VEGAS -- The "Golden Misfits" helped get the Vegas Golden Knights started in the NHL, so it was fitting that they started Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.

Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy sent out forwards William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault and defensemen Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb to start the 9-3 victory at T-Mobile Arena that clinched the Golden Knights' first Stanley Cup championship.

All five were members of the team that reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2018 in Vegas' first NHL season.

"I was surprised to be honest," Marchessault said. "I didn't know we were going to start and that was a great gesture. I didn't even think about it, and it was super nice on [Cassidy's part].

"We'd been here for six years and we grinded. We wanted to get back to that feeling we had that first year, get back to the dance, and we knew this year going back to it, things would be different. We took a different approach, and it was fun to be part of it for sure."

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William Carrier, the sixth remaining original Golden Knights player, was the odd man out, but the forward got in on the second shift of the game.

"I told Will Carrier, I said I can only start one left winger, so sorry," Cassidy said.

The original six Misfits came up big for the Vegas Golden Knights throughout this Cup run.

Smith (14 points; four goals, 10 assists) scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in Game 5. Marchessault (25 points; 13 goals, 12 assists) was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP. Karlsson had 17 points (11 goals, six assists). Theodore had 13 points (one goal, 12 assists). Carrier had six points (two goals, four assists) and McNabb had four assists.

"The foundation of this hockey team, the first building block started with them," Cassidy said.

The Golden Knights have been aggressive in their quest for the Stanley Cup since their inception.

"A lot of guys have gone through, right? Yeah, you're a survivor. You don't think about it," Carrier said. "They try to have a winning team every year. They try to bring people in and pieces that can help us win. They believed in us right off the bat. We proved that we can win."

Jack Eichel was one of those players that the Golden Knights acquired by trading away an original member of the 2017-18 team, forward Alex Tuch, to the Buffalo Sabres in 2021.

"I'm so happy for those guys. They're ultimate hockey players, but they're some of the best people you'll ever meet," Eichel said. "You can go around the room and say that about everyone. It's truly a special group in there, and I'm so happy for them. Coming here, Year One and getting so close, tasting it and not being able to get to this and obviously six years later, here we are. So, those guys, it's a special moment for them."

Another big-name acquisition was Alex Pietrangelo, who signed as a free agent in 2020 from the St. Louis Blues. He credits the front office for seeing the potential in the original "Misfits" as a group that can win it all.

"You know, Bill [Foley], Kelly [McCrimmon] and George [McPhee] said 'You know, this is a group that we can build around," he said. "They added me, they had a few other guys, but those are the guys that put the footprint and being a good hockey team and carry it all the way here."

The remaining original six members were the first to be Video: FLA@VGK, Gm5: Smith on getting the Cup from Stone after captain Mark Stone.

"They're guys who kind of laid their roots down here and have done a great job in the community, building the Golden Knights brand and hockey in the area," Cassidy said.