Stanley Cup Final
Vegas Golden Knights at Florida Panthers
Game 2 – 8:00 PM ET
REFEREES |
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Steve Kozari #40 |
Wes McCauley #4 |
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| Last Game | FLA/VGK Game 2 | FLA/VGK Game 1 | ||||
| Games ’22-23 (Reg/PO) | 73 | 12 | 75 | 14 | ||||
| Career Games (Reg/PO) | 1158 | 135 | 1292 | 200 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 10/15/05 | 1/20/03 | ||||
| First Playoff Game | 4/14/10 | 4/12/07 | ||||
| Birthplace | Penticton, BC | Georgetown, ON | ||||
| Goals/Gm (Reg/PO) | 6.5 (9) | 5.7 (10) | 6.1 (34) | 6.6 (7) | ||||
| PP Opp/Gm (Reg/PO) | 6.0 (25) | 6.8 (3) | 5.3 (40) | 6.3 (10) | ||||
| PPG/Gm (Reg/PO) | 1.4 (17) | 1.6 (8) | 0.9 (42) | 1.8 (6) | ||||
| Penl/Gm (Reg/PO) | 7.7 (21) | 8.5 (10) | 6.6 (40) | 7.9 (14) | ||||
| PIM/Gm (Reg/PO) | 20.0 (8) | 21.0 (12) | 15.3 (41) | 25.5 (9) | ||||
| % of Penl on Home | 49.7% (8) | 52.8% (8) | 48.9% (36) | 54.8% (4) | ||||
| % PP Opp for Home | 50.6% (32) | 54.7% (10) | 53.0% (7) | 46.4% (19) | ||||
| Penl Diff.* (Reg/PO) | 1.6 (3) | 1.6 (5) | 1.4 (17) | 1.5 (7) | ||||
| Home Win % (Reg/PO) | 51% (37) | 36% (13) | 58% (23) | 45% (12) | ||||
| Home Rec. (Reg/PO) | 33-32-8 | 4-7 | 38-26-11 | 5-6 | ||||
| OT/SO Games | 20.5% (24) | 33.3% (2) | ||||
| Team Records | 22-23 | 21-22 | 20-21 | 22-23 | 21-22 | 20-21 |
| VGK | 5-2-0 4-0 PO |
2-6 | 4-1 | 2-1-1 3-1 PO |
2-4 | 2-1 |
| FLA | 3-2-1 2-1 PO |
4-1 | 1-0 | 0-2-1 3-1 PO |
4-2 | 2-3 |
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Scott Cherrey #50 |
Brad Kovachik #71 |
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| Games ’22-23 | 75 / 12 | 69 / 12 | ||||
| Career Games (Reg/PO) | 1087 / 142 | 1764 / 199 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 10/6/07 | 10/10/96 | ||||
| First Playoff Game | 4/15/11 | 4/14/01 | ||||
| Birthplace | Drayton, ON | Woodstock, ON | ||||
Refs Steve Kozari and Wes McCauley are working together for the first time this postseason. Kozari worked Game 2 of this series with Chris Rooney (VGK W 7-2), while McCauley took the ice for Game 1 with Dan O’Rourke (VGK W 5-2).
The Florida Panthers are 7-1 this postseason under tonight’s refs, while the Vegas Golden Knights are 5-2.
Referee Steve Kozari
Kozari was previously partnered up with referee Chris Lee for the first three rounds. In Round 1, the duo took the ice for SEA/COL Game 1, WPG/VGK Game 2 (VGK W 5-2), EDM/LAK Game 4, MIN/DAL Game 5, CAR/NYI Game 6, and FLA/BOS Game 7 (FLA W 4-3 OT Series Win). In the second round, they handled SEA/DAL Game 2, CAR/NJD Game 4, and EDM/VGK Game 5 (VGK W 4-3). Kozari and Lee worked two games in the Conference Finals: FLA/CAR Game 1 (FLA W 3-2 OT) and VGK/DAL Game 3 (VGK W 4-0).
McCauley is working his tenth Stanley Cup Final, while Kozari is officiating his fourth. Linesmen Scott Cherrey and Brad Kovachik are both making their fifth trip to the Cup Final.
Referee Wes McCauley
McCauley started the playoffs alongside Frederick L’Ecuyer for TBL/TOR Game 1, NYR/NJD Game 2, CAR/NYI Game 4, FLA/BOS Game 5 (FLA W 4-3 OT), and EDM/LAK Game 6. McCauley also covered NYR/NJD Game 7 with Gord Dwyer.
He was paired up with ref Dan O’Rourke starting in the second round; the duo handled NJD/CAR Game 1, TOR/FLA Game 3 (FLA W 3-2 OT), SEA/DAL Game 5, and VGK/EDM Game 6 (VGK W 5-2 Series Win) in Round 2, along with DAL/VGK Game 2 (VGK W 3-2), CAR/FLA Game 4 (FLA W 4-3), and DAL/VGK Game 5 (VGK L 2-4) in the Conference Finals.
McCauley is working his 201st Stanley Cup Playoff game tonight, trailing only Kelly Sutherland (229) in playoff games worked among active referees.
Standby Referee: Kelly Sutherland #11
Standby Linesman: Steve Barton #59
* Numbers in orange represent ref’s ranking among active officials.
* Penalty Differential represents the absolute value of the variance of penalty calls by team per game. If Team A takes two more penalties (or two fewer) than Team B, this is a 2 Lower numbers indicate less variance between total penalties in a game – that is, a closer number of calls for both teams.
Playoff stats updated through May 24. Regular season stats have been updated through the end of the 2022-23 regular season.
The officials working the Stanley Cup Finals:
