Zach Whitecloud scored from long range with just over 13 minutes left, after Adin Hill made arguably the best save of the playoffs, and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Florida Panthers 5-2 Saturday night in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Whitecloud's goal put Vegas ahead, a crucial penalty kill followed and captain Mark Stone scored an insurance goal that was reviewed for a high stick and confirmed. That combination, plus Hill's 33 saves, gave Vegas the lead in the series after a feisty opener between Sun Belt teams who wasted little time getting acquainted with big hits during play and plenty of post-whistle pushing and shoving.

Original Knights players Jonathan Marchessault and Shea Theodore also scored on Florida's two-time Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky.

Game 2 is Monday in Las Vegas.

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The Panthers ratcheted up the physical play late after falling behind by two. A handful of penalties resulting from a fracas with 4:24 remaining left the Florida bench well short.

But the outcome was determined long before that.

After falling behind on a short-handed goal by Eric Staal that sucked the life out of the crowd of 18,432, the Golden Knights rallied for their ninth comeback win this playoffs. Marchessault — known since arriving in Las Vegas when the franchise got its start for scoring big goals — answered before the end of the first period and Theodore scored his first since March 7 in the second.

In between, Hill made a desperation stick save to rob Nick Cousins of what would have been a sure goal. The save was reminiscent of the one Washington’s Braden Holtby made against Vegas — in the same crease — five years ago.

LAS VEGAS STRIP CLUB OFFERS GOLDEN KNIGHTS 'FREE LAP DANCES FOR LIFE' IF THEY WIN STANLEY CUP

Giving up a tying goal to Anthony Duclair with 10.2 seconds left in the second did not slow the Golden Knights’ momentum much. Whitecloud’s goal, with Bobrovsky screened and unable to see, fired up fans once again.

The Golden Knights are in the final for the second time in six years of existence, five years after making it in their inaugural season. Vegas won the opener in 2018 and lost the series to Washington in five games. Six players are left from that original team.

The Panthers are back playing for the Cup for the first time since 1996. Florida got swept by Colorado in that final 27 years ago, 18 months before Tkachuk, the team’s leading scorer this playoffs, was born.

It’s the 66th different matchup of teams in the Cup final in NHL history and the 46th since the expansion era began in 1967-68. This is the first time since Washington-Vegas and just the third time since the turn of the century in which the final features two teams who have never won the league’s championship.

Anne Heche's ex-husband James Tupper opened up about how he and their 14-year-old son Atlas are coping after the actress's death in August.

The 57-year-old actor told People magazine he and Atlas have been leaning on each other after the "Six Days, Seven Nights" star died at the age of 53 following a car crash. 

"We're taking care of each other and taking it one day at a time," Tupper said at the Race to Erase MS Gala in Los Angeles Friday.

"We've got a lot of great support and family around us, and it doesn't help. We still miss her, we miss her every day, love her," the "Revenge" alum added.

ANNE HECHE, 53, PEACEFULLY TAKEN OFF LIFE SUPPORT'

Tupper and Heche began dating in 2008 after meeting on the set of their hit ABC show "Men in Trees" and welcomed Atlas the following year. The former couple were together more than 10 years before splitting in January 2018.

Heche was previously married to Coley Laffoon, 49, with whom she shared son Homer, 21. The two tied the knot in 2001, but Laffoon filed for divorce in 2007. Their split was finalized in March 2009.

In January, Tupper shared that helping Atlas through his grief was his "whole focus."

"I want to say that I'm doing great, but it's been a very, very difficult time," Tupper explained. "A very big transition and spending time with my boy and looking after him, that's basically been my whole focus.

"It's very difficult whenever you lose a parent like that. Your whole world switches inside out, and I think kids experience trauma in a way that adults don't.

"Adults have a context to put it in, but kids do not. You want to bury it, you want to forget about it and move past it. I happened to have lost my mom, too, when I was very, very young. So, I kind of understand what he's going through."

The "Big Little Lies" star noted that "grief is a difficult thing," adding it "comes in waves." He explained that he has become "so upset" sometimes while driving he has to pull his car over. 

"This shock that she's gone now — someone that you really loved and really knew very, very well — [it's] impossible to get over quickly," the Canada native told People.

Tupper added that playing tennis and relying on the support of his "really good friends" has helped Atlas cope with the loss of his mother.

"Atlas has taken up tennis. So, he plays like two to three hours a day, and I think that's creating a real nice balance," Tupper said. "So, keeping these things carefully in balance, that's how we're getting through grief."

According to a report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner's office, Heche died from "inhalation and thermal injuries" after she was involved in a fiery car collision Aug. 5 in Mar Vista.

Coroners also listed a "sternal fracture due to blunt trauma" under "other significant conditions" for her death.

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Heche suffered a "severe anoxic brain injury" and remained "in a coma" under medical care at the Grossman Burn Center in West Hills for the opportunity to donate her organs through the OneLegacy Foundation.

"It has long been her choice to donate her organs, and she's being kept on life support to determine if any are viable," her representative confirmed at the time.

Heche was "peacefully taken off life support" Aug. 14 after being declared brain-dead days before.

Following her death, Homer faced a contentious court battle with Tupper, who contested Laffoon's appointment as guardian of her estate.

Tupper initially filed paperwork seeking to establish himself as the guardian of his son, who is legally a minor, but his petition was denied in November.

Fox News Digital's Tracy Wright contributed to this report.