Theodore big reason for Golden Knights' playoff success

LAS VEGAS --Shea Theodore showed what he can do in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, scoring a spectacular goal in the Vegas Golden Knights' 5-2 win against the Florida Panthers at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

The defenseman gathered the puck inside the offensive blue line, skated backwards with it the width of the ice and spun around. Then he stopped and cut back to the middle.

Poor Anthony Duclair. The Panthers forward had blocked a shot by Theodore seconds earlier. He gave Theodore little space, stretching out his stick, waving at the puck, coming within inches of knocking it away, and Theodore still escaped.

"He's been doing that his whole career," said Duclair, who played with Theodore when Canada won gold at the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship. "I know him pretty well, playing world juniors with him a couple years back.

"But you know, obviously, in pain, tried to do my best, get a stick on it, but again, he's obviously a world-class talent."

Theodore ended up finding a shooting lane and firing a wrist shot from the high slot through traffic and past goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, giving the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead at 10:54 of the second period.

He also had an assist, three shots and six shot attempts in 20:59 of ice time. When he was on the ice, the Golden Knights had 69.2 percent of the shot attempts at 5-on-5 and 73.5 percent of them in all situations, best among Vegas skaters.

The Golden Knights will host the Panthers in Game 2 of the best-of-7 series on Monday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, TBS, truTV, CBC, SN, TVAS).

It's hard to believe that the goal was Theodore's first of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and that he'd been hard on himself about his performance.

"When they announced it was his first goal, I mean, I didn't know that, because he generates so much offense for us with his legs," Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said. "He creates and moves the puck so well for us.

"But at the same time, he's one of the best defensemen in the League, so when he doesn't score, I think it can build on a guy. So, I think that's why he's hard on himself, right? Because he expects greatness.

"And tonight, that was a great goal."

Theodore is one of the reasons Vegas has had so much success since joining the NHL as an expansion team in 2017-18, making the playoffs five times in six seasons, advancing to the third round four times and the Cup Final twice.

The Golden Knights snagged him from the Anaheim Ducks in a trade related to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, even though the Ducks had selected him in the first round (No. 26) in the 2013 NHL Draft and he was considered an up-and-coming talent.

The 27-year-old has 264 points (66 goals, 198 assists) in 450 regular-season games. The crazy part? He has 64 points (15 goals, 49 assists) in 103 playoff games. That's a lot of playoff experience, and that gives him an advantage in the Cup Final.

"I think some of these pressure situations, you can't replicate in the regular season," Theodore said. "These are tough games. Every second really matters out there. And I think (I'm) just taking the experience of going on the deep runs, going to the [Final] the first year, just taking all that in stride and kind of using that this postseason."

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After scoring in a 2-1 loss at Florida on March 9, Theodore had six assists in his last 11 regular-season games. He had seven assists in 16 games through the first three rounds of the playoffs.

Coach Bruce Cassidy and assistant John Stevens met with Theodore during the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars.

"You're starting to see his game come around," Cassidy said. "It started in the Dallas series. His legs are under him, and he's skating and pushing the pace."

The goal is a prime example.

"He needs to do a bit of that," Cassidy said. "They get into man-to-man, so when you have a little bit of space, that's your time to be creative, whether you go back down the wall or into the middle. And Shea has the ability to move laterally as good as any defenseman I've ever seen, so good for him to find the middle of the ice.

"It looked like it was pretty good coverage at first, but again, he found his soft spot."

After the goal, Theodore banged against the glass, pumped his fists and yelled, "Let's go!" His teammates mobbed him. You could see the joy and relief on his face.

"The way that he transports the puck up the ice, he'll give you a one-man breakout at times," Golden Knights center Jack Eichel said. "He does so much for our team. Give him a ton of credit.

"And it's good to see him rewarded there. He's been on a little drought, and I'm sure it feels good for him to find one. Hopefully, it boosts his game the next few."

NHL.com Senior Director of Editorial Shawn P. Roarke contributed to this report