Breaking down how Golden Knights can close out Panthers, win Cup Final

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 at how the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers will approach Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS).

There will be a lot of excitement for the Vegas Golden Knights heading into Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday with a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series and having the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup on home ice.

Obviously, it's just human nature to think about holding the Stanley Cup. The old cliché is the fourth game is the hardest one to win. I think the Golden Knights are going to be preaching, "Just stay in the moment."

I'm sure their families and significant other people will be there because of the situation they're in with a chance to win the Stanley Cup. But I really like what I've read about what their players are saying.

They've been very focused. Sure, there are responsibilities to your families and stuff, but when the time has come to play the game, they're geared up, they're ready to go and they really have their eye on the prize.

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The Panthers have been in this position before. I'm sure they're going to reflect on their first-round series against the Boston Bruins when they came back from a 3-1 deficit and won in seven games. It's going to be important they get off to a good start.

I really liked the way the Panthers played in their 3-2 overtime victory in Game 3. I think they're going to have to win a 2-1, 3-2 game because that's sort of their mantra of playing tight defensively.

Some of Florida's key players such as forwards Matthew Tkachuk and Anthony Duclair and defenseman Brandon Montour are banged up, which these two days off before Game 5 will help. But when you have your high-impact players hurt and they can't play their game, it significantly alters the way they're playing.

The Panthers need to keep it simple, get pucks out and get pucks in, and they need to forecheck. In Game 3, Florida did a really good job of winning races to loose pucks and creating a scrum or battle, which can lead to offensive zone time.

Otherwise, the Panthers haven't been able to spend a significant amount of time in the offensive zone. A way you can do that is to keep it simple. Put pucks in places where you can get speed to the puck and create some zone time and make Vegas defend.

The Golden Knights have some really good defensemen, but I don't think the Panthers have done enough to make Vegas defend more and, because of that, they're spending a lot of time in their own end.

Vegas' defense also has made it difficult for Florida to get to the net and get shots on goalie Adin Hill, blocking 97 shot attempts through the first four games, including 31 in Game 3 and 30 more in Game 4.

I'm sure the Golden Knights are going to preach short shifts. Let's get the momentum, let's try to attack and use the depth of our team.

It's a huge advantage when you can just not worry about matchups, and I think that was evident in the Golden Knights' 3-2 win in Game 4. They just played their game and rolled their four lines.

With their forward depth, they are able to stay fresh. You might not see it in the first period, but eventually their depth takes over the game. The other team just gets worn down.

It just seems like the Golden Knights suffocate the other team when they're moving the puck well and breaking out and working for each other. When they're connected as a five-man unit, they break out easily, they get the puck in deep and then they forecheck very well.

That's really how the Golden Knights have had their success. Vegas has had a significant edge in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 5-on-5 scoring with 61 goals -- Florida is second in the NHL with 38 - and overall scoring in averaging 3.76 goals per game, which is second in the League behind Boston's 3.86 per game.

Vegas' special teams also have had a big edge in the series. The Golden Knights' power play is 6-for-18 (33.3 percent) and the Panthers are 0-for-13 with the man-advantage.

Before the series, I gave a little bit of a nod to the Panthers on special teams, but they just haven't figured out the Golden Knights' penalty kill. When you're in the situation they're in with their power play not clicking, sometimes you overthink and overpass instead of going back to the basics and just get shots at the net and crash the net.

It's a pretty simple recipe until you get some confidence.

On the other hand, Vegas has taken advantage of some key moments in the series with some huge power-play goals. When the Golden Knights have needed a goal, their power play has come through.

Florida just needs to keep it simple. If the Panthers can win this game, then they go back to Florida for Game 6 on Friday, and that changes everything.

But I think Vegas is going to be ready. With the Golden Knights having the crowd behind them at home and the noise and the momentum, it's going to be a tough hill for the Panthers to climb.

I think the leadership in Vegas is very strong. I guess you could say the Golden Knights players who played in the 2018 Cup Final, when they lost to the Washington Capitals, have been in this situation, but now they've got some Stanley Cup winners on that team such as Alex Pietrangelo and Ivan Barbashev, who won with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, and Alec Martinez, who won with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014.

Those guys can share their experience of what they went through and how hard it is. You've got to be ready because there is going to be a tremendous push from Florida.