Saturday's NHL Playoffs slate features Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final'between the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights. With the most iconic trophy in sports on the line in this series, fans from both sides are hoping for a fairly officiated game tonight.
Here's everything you need to know about the refs for Game 1 of Panthers-Golden Knights.
Panthers vs Golden Knights Game 1 Referees
|
Referee |
Role |
Number |
|---|---|---|
|
Wes McCauley |
Referee |
#4 |
|
Dan O'Rourke |
Referee |
#9 |
|
Jonny Murray |
< p class="tagStyle_125jist-o_O-style_1tcxgp3-o_O-style_1pinbx1-o_O-style_1njobzg" data-mm-id="_lwlu1qkvh">Linesman |
#95 |
|
Scott Cherrey |
Linesman |
#50 |
The four officials assigned to work Saturday's matchup between the Panthers and Golden Knights are Wes McCauley (#4, referee), Dan O'Rourke (#9, referee), Jonny Murray (#95, linesman), and Scott Cherrey (#50, linesman).
Looking at McCauley's postseason track record, he doesn't favor one team over the other. The home team is 5-6 in his 11 playoff games while calling 54.8% of penalties on the home team. Meanwhile, the home team is 5-5 when O'Rourke is reffing this postseason.
The Panthers are currently 3-1 in the 2022-23 playoffs when McCauley and O'Rourke officiate their games, whereas the Golden Knights are 2-1 when the duo is on the ice.
Here's a breakdown of the stats from games McCauley and O'Rourke have officiated this postseason:
|
Referee |
Home Team Record |
Total Goals Per Game |
% of Penalties on Home Team |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Wes McCauley |
5-6 |
6.6 |
54.8% |
|
Dan O'Rourke |
5-5 |
5.7 |
50.4% |
Murray and Cherrey bring some postseason experience to the table as well. Not only has each man officiated at least 11 games this postseason, but they also combine for 314 total games of NHL playoff experience.
At the end of the day, Game 1 is shaping up to be a showdown that could go either way.
NHL Playoffs Refs
A total of five referees and five linesmen have been selected to work the Stanley Cup Final. This group is headlined by names like Wes McCauley, Dan O'Rourke, and Kelly Sutherland.
Check out the full list of officials working the Stanley Cup Final below:
- Steve Kozari
- Wes McCauley
- Dan O'Rourke
- Chris Rooney
- Kelly Sutherland
- Steve Barton
- Scott Cherrey
- Brad Kovachik
- Kiel Murchison
- Jonny Murray