After a few days of rest, the Vegas Golden Knights were back practicing in a packed City National Arena. It was as electric as a practice crowd can get, but players say this is still business as usual because what they want is four wins away.
Fans filled City National Arena to watch the Knights have their first open practice since beating the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final.
It's truly an exciting time for the VGK, but captain Mark Stone says as good as it is to see the fans, they are still focused on their match-up with Florida.
"I think everybody knows how important it is to keep an even keel in the locker room," he said. "Don't let the highs get too high and the lows get too low. I think just overall as a group, we've done a good job at that."
Some players who are staying extra focused are the "original Misfits," who are getting yet another crack at the cup. They say they are not going to get ahead of themselves and are locked in and committed to bringing the cup home to Vegas.
"I don't think a lot of people in this room read into the noise of what other people have to say," VGK forward Reilly Smith said. "We know what we have in this locker room. We've known It since day 1 of training camp and we're here to prove it."
"It's that time of the year where there's two good hockey teams," VGK forward Jonathan Marchessault said. "It's whoever is going to want it the most. It's not about Xs and Os, it's about desire."
"We got a job to do," VGK defenseman Brayden McNabb said. "It was tough going that far and not winning. You're kind of left with nothing. It's about digging deep and leaving it all out there and you not going home empty handed."