Breaking down Stanley Cup Final between Golden Knights, Panthers

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs by former NHL coaches and assistants who turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher. Phil Housley and Mark Recchi will take turns providing insight.

In this edition, Housley, a Hall of Fame defenseman who coached the Buffalo Sabres and was an assistant with the Nashville Predators and Arizona Coyotes, looks ahead to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, TBS, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS).

One of the biggest questions heading into the Stanley Cup Final between Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights is how the long layoff following the Eastern Conference Final will impact the Panthers.

Florida hasn't played since completing a sweep with a 4-3 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 on May 24. The Panthers had to wait for the Golden Knights to clinch their spot in the Cup Final with a 6-0 victory against the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final on Monday.

With the Panthers being off for so long, it's going to take a game or two for them to get back to how they were playing. During this break, I'm sure the coaches gave the players some time off to rest the bumps and bruises. They probably had a couple tempo practices and they're likely going to have to do some 5-on-5 drills with a little bumping to keep everybody up to pace.

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It can be challenging, but I think the players know they'll need to stay sharp and execute in practice. Obviously they'll touch on special teams, work on the power play, maybe doing 4-on-3 and 5-on-3 now that they have time, to just reinforce messages and stay on top of their game.

That's the tough part about being a coach, is trying to maintain and keep your guys focused mentally when they're off for a long time. And as far as the speed of the game, you can practice all you want and trying to simulate game-like situations, but it's never going to be the same.

The Golden Knights will be in more of a game mode after finishing their previous series Monday. With travel home from Dallas, Tuesday is probably a wash and then they'll probably take another day off Wednesday and maybe bring guys in for treatment and then practice Thursday. But I think the advantage as far as being ready to play Game 1 is going to be in Vegas' favor.

There is a lot of excitement heading into a Stanley Cup Final with family and friends coming to town and increased attention and Stanley Cup Final Media Day on Friday. But there's a couple of ways you can look at it.

The Golden Knights can thrive off the energy and the momentum of playing Game 1 at home. It's a quicker turnaround for them, and being at home, obviously, family and everybody wants to be a part of it.

But I'm sure the guys in that room have talked about making sure there aren't many distractions. Take care of what you need to do so when gametime comes Saturday, you're totally focused on the game.

From the Panthers' perspective, they already might have family with them because they've had such a long break. In that way, starting on the road can sometimes be an advantage because you're in the hotel and you're with your team 24/7 and your total focus is on Game 1.

I think both teams physically will be battle ready. Florida needs to continue to play a physical style of game -- and it's done a good job of going to the line but not crossing it and maintaining its discipline -- and impose its will on teams. Vegas can play physical as well, and with its defensemen being big, it's going to be tough to get to the net.

But it just seems Florida finds ways to get to the net. Both teams are good in that respect.

I look back at the two games the Stars won to get back into the Western Conference Final after losing the first three games and they were able to get to the net and score those hard goals. I think Florida does a terrific job of getting to the net with Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and even some slippery guys like Sam Reinhart. They find ways to get there and those are big, heavy players.

I think the Golden Knights need to continue to play a simple game. I like their overall scoring. They're first in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 62 goals in 17 games and the scoring is spread throughout their lineup. Florida has scored 50 goals, but only 31 at 5-on-5, so it has relied on its special teams to play a big part.

But the Panthers play a tighter game defensively, giving up 25 goals 5-on-5. That also says a lot about their goaltending.

I think the goaltending advantage would have to go to Florida because of the way Sergei Bobrovsky is playing, even though Adin Hill has done a terrific job for Vegas since Laurent Brossoit was injured. This will be another stage that Hill hasn't experienced previously. He's done a great job stepping in and, though the Golden Knights have played so well defensively in front of him, I'd give a little bit of an edge in net to Florida.

I think it's going to be a great series.

Vegas is well balanced, much like Florida, and brought its game to another level in Game 6 against Dallas. The Golden Knights played probably one of their best games of the playoffs and I think the Stars were mentally and physically spent after clawing their way back into the series.

Vegas is going to be tough to beat if they continue to play like that. But the Panthers have a way of imposing their will on opponents with their physicality.

You could see it against the Hurricanes. They're going to be in your face and they're going to challenge Hill. I think Tkachuk is going to try to get into his mind with the way he goes to the net and the way he continues to play.