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• Hill's save propels Golden Knights to 5-2 win over Panthers in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final

  Zach Whitecloud snapped a third-period tie and Adin Hill made a highlight-reel save for one of his 33 stops to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

  Whitecloud’s long-range goal with just over 13 minutes left put Vegas ahead 3-2, and captain Mark Stone extended the lead with 6:19 remaining with a goal that was reviewed for a high stick and confirmed. Jonathan Marchessault and Shea Theodore also scored for the Golden Knights, who rallied for their ninth comeback win this postseason.

  The Panthers got goals from Eric Staal and Anthony Duclair as their eight-game road winning streak was snapped.

  Hill came up with arguably the save of the playoffs in the second period with Vegas holding a 2-1 lead. He reached across the crease with his stick to make a desperation save on Nick Cousins on what would have been a sure goal.

  The Golden Knights are in the final for the second time in its six years of existence after making it in the inaugural 2017-18 season.

  Florida also has reached the final for the second time but first since it was swept by Colorado in 1996.

  Game 2 is Monday in Las Vegas. 

   

  THE VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS HAVE TAKEN A 1-0 LEAD IN THE STANLEY CUP FINAL!!!!!!! #UKnightTheRealm pic.twitter.com/Hk9ImREfdb

  — z - Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) June 4, 2023

• Blue Jackets to name 2008 Stanley Cup champion Babcock head coach

  The Columbus Blue Jackets are expected to name Mike Babcock their next head coach, according to multiple reports.

  The deal is expected to become official on June 30, when Babcock’s eight-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs expires. He hasn’t coached in the NHL since Toronto fired him 23 games into the 2019-20 season, ending a near five-year tenure with the team.

  Babcock began his NHL coaching career with the Anaheim Ducks in 2002-03 before moving on to the Detroit Red Wings for 10 seasons, starting in 2005-06. He led the Red Wings to the 2007-08 Stanley Cup championship and won two conference titles with Detroit (2008, 2009) and one with Anaheim (2003).

  The Maple Leafs reached the playoffs in three straight seasons under Babcock but were eliminated in the first round each time.

  After he was fired by Toronto on November 20, 2019, Babcock faced multiple accusations of player mistreatment. Former NHL defenseman Mike Commodore has criticized Babcock for his coaching style, and former Red Wings forward Johan Franzen accused him of verbally abusing him.

  Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan said Babcock’s tactics were not “appropriate or acceptable,” given how times had changed in the NHL.

  He will take over a Columbus team that fired Brad Larsen, who went 62-85-16 in two seasons behind the bench, after finishing with an Eastern Conference-worst 59 points this season. The Blue Jackets have won just two playoff rounds in their 22-year history.

  Babcock ranks 13th all-time with 700 wins and his .608 points percentage is the fourth best among NHL coaches with at least 1,000 games.

   

   

   

• Three-time Stanley Cup-winner Patrick Kane has hip procedure, expected to miss four-to-six months

  Three-time Stanley Cup-winner and pending free agent Patrick Kane underwent a hip resurfacing procedure and is expected to be sidelined four-to-six months.

  His agent Pat Brisson told this news to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on Thursday.

  Brisson told Friedman that the surgery was a success and that Kane “wants to play for a long time.”

  Doctors are optimistic that will happen.

  The 34-year-old Kane has been playing with an ailing hip the past few seasons and told the New York Rangers during his recent exit interview that it slowed him during the team’s first-round playoff exit against the New Jersey Devils.

  Kane, who was acquired by the Rangers from the Chicago Blackhawks on February 28, had a goal and five assists in the seven-game series.

  "I look at that series and I know it’s like, if I felt a little bit better, I can like, help us win that series, you know?" Kane said. "It’s almost like disappointing and depressing in a way, but that’s just kind of how I feel about it."

  Set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 after concluding an eight-year, $84million contract he signed in 2014, Kane played the final 19 games of the 2022-23 season for the Rangers, tallying five goals and seven assists after Chicago shipped him to New York for a pair of 2023 draft picks.

  Kane left the Blackhawks as one of the greatest players in franchise history.

  He was instrumental to their dynasty in the 2010s, helping the club to Stanley Cup titles in 2010, 2013 and 2015. He scored the championship-clinching goal over the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime of Game 6 of the 2010 Final, while winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs in 2013.

  He had spent his entire 16-season NHL career with the Blackhawks after being selected first overall in the 2007 draft.

   

   

  The nine-time All-Star ranks second all-time in franchise history with 1,225 points, while his 446 goals are third most by a Blackhawk. He also ranks third in franchise history in games played (1,161) and fourth in power-play goals (122).

  As a 19-year-old rookie in 2007-08, Kane made an immediate impact in the NHL, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s top first-year player.

  Eight years later in 2015-16, Kane won the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP as well as the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion.

  He finished the 2022-23 season with 21 goals and 57 points in 73 games – his fewest points since registering 55 in just 47 games during the strike-shortened 2012-13 season.