LAS VEGAS — The Florida Panthers pushed hard in the forecheck in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but it was the counter-attack of the Vegas Golden Knights that defined the outcome of the game.
Zach Whitecloud fired a wrist shot through traffic seconds after a Matthew Tkachuk turnover to put Vegas ahead 6:59 into the third period Saturday night and the home team added two more goals for a 5-2 win and a 1-0 series lead.
“It was 2-2. It was tough,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “On the gradation of tough — root canal to lumpy oatmeal — it’s closer to the root canal side.”
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That goal proved to be the defining moment of the game as the Golden Knights proceeded to hound the Panthers for the rest of the third period. But Maurice was not concerned about that.
“I would say that this was a 2-2 game going into the third,” he said. “The losing team talks about too much of something and the winning team talks about the fabulousness of all other things. It was 2-2 until that puck gets turned over so it was a tight game.”
The night started well for Florida as Eric Staal opened the scoring with a wrap-around on a penalty kill. Anton Lundell sent the 18-year veteran in on goal with a pass through Vegas’ defense and Staal tucked it in 9:40 into the first period.
The Panthers did not get so lucky on their second go-around on the penalty kill. Jonathan Marchessault was left wide-open in front of the net and he made his former team pay. Marchessault, who played for the Panthers during the 2016-17 season, wired a one-timer off a feed from Chandler Stephenson to tie the game with 3:42 to go in the first period.
Shea Theodore put Vegas up 2-1 with 9:16 to go in the second period after getting around Anthony Duclair with some nifty moves and beating Sergei Bobrovsky with a wrist shot. Duclair redeemed himself with a rocket of a wrist shot with 10.2 seconds to go in the second period to tie the game.
After Whitecloud’s goal put the Golden Knights ahead, Mark Stone sealed the deal by knocking the puck out of mid-air down to himself and striking with a wrist shot with 6:19 to go.
Maurice tried reviewing the goal for a missed stoppage for a high stick — referring back to Stone’s play to knock down an airborne puck — but it was ruled that the puck was below the shoulders and the goal stood.
“Right shoulder is under it, left shoulder is under it,” Maurice explained. “I might be even more impressed with the speed in which they came back with no. They might’ve been excited to get another one of our guys in the box. I thought it was fast.”
Reilly Smith scored an empty-net goal with 1:45 to go.
Here are three takeaways from Game 1:
Adin Hill is solid but not unbeatable
Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill entered the Stanley Cup Finals on a hot streak, going 7-3 with a .937 save percentage and a 2.07 goals-against average in place of the injured Laurent Brossoit. But he did not look untouchable in Game 1 against the Panthers.
Florida caught him out of position quite a few times — with shots beating him but hitting the post five times in the first two periods. His big stick save on Nick Cousins – whose shot was headed straight to an open Vegas net after Hill was caught out of position – made up for another gaffe.
He had a tendency to leave open pockets for Panthers skaters to shoot in all game. They just have to find a way to hit them without hitting the post.
“We need to shoot the puck and get screens,” Carter Verhaeghe said. “We can’t let him see the puck. I think that’s pretty much the general consensus on how to beat a goalie. We had some good looks tonight and they didn’t go in.”
Panthers’ woeful power play proves costly
The Panthers were not able to get much of anything going on the power play against a Golden Knights team, which has struggled on the penalty kill all playoffs.
And it proved costly.
Florida’s man advantage looked solid the first time it took the ice in the first period — moving the puck quickly and creating chances around Vegas’ box in front of the net — but it got progressively worse from there.
On its second and third chances, the Panthers were not able to move the puck as quickly and the Golden Knights were able to break up passes and clear the zone easily.
“It was a little choppy and I think they have a really good penalty kill,” Verhaeghe said. “We are going to try to get better from that and learn from our mistakes.”
Panthers’ second line causing problems but not cashing in
The Panthers’ second line — headlined by Tkachuk — caused the Golden Knights a lot of problems on the forecheck but they were not able to finish the job.
Cousins had several high-danger chances — including Hill’s sprawling stick save — but he was met with a save each time. Sam Bennett had some golden opportunities, including two unguarded shots from the slot with 9:56 to go in the second period, but he could not bury them.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Panthers in 0-1 hole in Stanley Cup Finals against Vegas Golden Knights
