The Florida Panthers were looking for a repeat as they pulled Sergei Bobrovsky for an extra skater late in Game 4 and pressed for the tying goal.
Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk, who had been on the bench dealing with an injury, even came out to try again to score as he did late in Game 3. The 6-on-5 became a 6-on-4 as Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was called for delay of game for putting the puck out of play.
But Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill got his pad on Tkachuk’s shot to ensure a 3-2 win, even though the save happened slightly after the clock hit 0:00 and the goal wouldn’t have counted if the puck had gone in.
Then fireworks happened as players went after each other.
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Florida’s Sam Bennett took a swing at Vegas’ William Karlsson and they tussled and went to the ice.
Hill got involved with players in front of the net before pulling away and Tkachuk slashed and yelled at Pietrangelo, who had come out of the penalty box after time expired.
Fans also threw objects on the ice in what could be the Panthers’ last home game of the series as the Golden Knights lead 3-1 and head home for Game 5 on Tuesday night.
A total of 28 minutes of penalties were called in the scrum: Hill for unsportsmanlike conduct, Florida’s Brandon Montour for charging and a misconduct and Tkachuk two for slashing, two for unsportsmanlike conduct and a misconduct.
It was the fourth time that Tkachuk, the Panthers’ leading scorer, was called for a misconduct in the series.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Panthers, Golden Knights end Stanley Cup Final Game 4 with big scrum
