SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers had their backs against the wall in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but they never backed down.Down a goal and on the verge of falling into a 3-0 series hole to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Panthers pulled goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with 2:28 to go in regulation. And familiar heroes helped Florida pull away from the brink of a sweep.
Matthew Tkachuk tied the game with 2:13 to go in regulation. Then, Carter Verhaeghe scored his record fourth overtime winner as a Panther 4:27 into the extra period for the 3-2 win and a 2-1 deficit in the best-of-seven series.
“They all counted us out before the Final even started and being in that position probably added to it,” Tkachuk said. “We are that team that knows what the end goal is … We don’t know how we’re going to get there, but we are going to do everything we can to pursue that opportunity.”
This time, it was Verhaeghe cocking back a wrist shot and firing it from range that helped the Panthers get over the top in Game 3. A familiar outcome which was stamped on both Florida’s first playoff series win since 1996 in Washington and their historic Game 7 upset victory in Boston in the first round this year.
“Over the course of his career, he’s got the puck off his stick faster than anyone could react to,” coach Paul Maurice said. “It’s overtime and nobody is beefing him for the best play. There’s no ‘I’m wide open, why didn’t you hit me?’ They’re telling him to shoot the damn puck.”
Brandon Montour got things started Thursday night 4:08 into the game, rocketing a shot past Adin Hill off a feed from Tkachuk. But that was the last time anything was heard from Florida’s offense for quite a while.
Tkachuk leaving the game 7:16 into the opening frame after taking a huge hit from Keegan Kolesar did not help matters even if he returned early in the second period. Vegas took over from there, feeding off of the penalty trouble, which has been haunting Florida all series.
Mark Stone put Vegas on the board in its second power play of the game, deflecting a Marchessault shot past Sergei Bobrovsky with 3:57 to go in the first period. Marchessault made Florida pay on the man advantage again with 5:01 to go in the second, unloading a blast of a one-timer off a slick feed from Jack Eichel.
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All the while, the Panthers failed to take advantage of any of their power play opportunities. They are yet to score on the man advantage in the Stanley Cup Finals, going 0-for-12 on the series and 0-for-5 on Thursday night.
Tkachuk finally cashed in, with 2:28 to go in the third. But a Gus Forsling tripping penalty with 11.2 seconds to go in regulation put the Panthers in a tough spot at the start of overtime.
Florida killed the penalty off and immediately ran with the momentum.
Verhaeghe pulled back and fired a wrist shot from long range and beat Hill for the win and making it a 2-1 series.
Here are three takeaways from Game 3:
Sergei Bobrovsky is back on the case
After getting pulled from Game 2, allowing four goals on 13 shots, Bobrovsky has returned to top form.
The veteran goalie stopped 25 of 27 shots, making big save after big save to keep the Panthers alive. He stopped all 20 shots he faced 5-on-5.“He has been unbelievable all playoffs,” Verhaeghe said. “Without him, we’re not here. He made so many huge saves tonight. I can’t even count how many. We are just so confident with him back there.”
Panthers’ power play woes continue
Florida entered the night 0-for-7 on the power play through the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals. And the Panthers were still unable to solve Vegas’ penalty kill in Game 3.
The Golden Knights play a very passive penalty-killing style, collapsing into a box and meticulously blocking shots as they come. The Panthers have not been able to move the puck fast enough to get around it. And when they do, their shots either get stopped by Hill or miss the net completely.
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March(essault) Madness
Marchessault has completely dominated in the Stanley Cup Finals, scoring four goals and two assists against the team that gave him up in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.
He tied Leon Draisaitl for the NHL lead in postseason goals with his 13th to put the Golden Knights ahead with 5:01 to go in the game.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Panthers defeat Vegas Golden Knights in OT in Stanley Cup Finals
