The Vegas Golden Knights failed to take a commanding 3-0 series lead against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night at FLA Live Arena after a late-game comeback led by Matthew Tkachuk brought the Panthers their first Stanley Cup Final win in franchise history, winning 3-2 in overtime.
The Panthers are now a perfect 7-0 in overtime throughout the 2023 Playoffs with Carter Verhaeghe scoring his fourth game-winning goal of these playoffs and fourth overtime-winner in his postseason career. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced and allowed just two goals for the first time since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Panthers’ Stars Come Up Clutch
The Golden Knights played well enough to win this game and push the Panthers to the brink, but the Panthers’ top players showed up in the biggest moments throughout and played with a level of desperation that was reminiscent of their first round series against the Boston Bruins.
Related: Panthers Need More From Their Defense To Win Cup
To start off, Brandon Montour broke his 10-game goalless streak less than five minutes into the game on a shot high in the slot to give the Panthers the early 1-0 lead. Next was Bobrovsky, who made a series of incredible saves in the second and third periods to keep the game close despite the penalty troubles that the Panthers continue to have.
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Then it was who else, but Matthew Tkachuk, who stepped up in the final two minutes after leaving the game earlier with an injury to tie the game 2-2 on a rebound with the empty net. The biggest moments from the Panthers’ postseason run have come from their best players, and that goal kept their Stanley Cup hopes alive despite only being down 2-0 in the series.
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That goal also tied Tkachuk with Roope Hintz for the lead in playoff scoring with 24 points and set up the eventual overtime winner from Verhaeghe, who snapped a five-game goalless streak of his own.
Marchessault Magic
Jonathan Marchessault’s 2-1 power play goal put him in the NHL history books, joining Jake Guentzel and Steve Yzerman as the only players in the last 35 years to score a goal in each of the first three games of a Stanley Cup Final. That goal also tied him with Leon Draisaitl for the lead in playoff goals with 13, which is remarkable considering Marchessault went scoreless through the first seven games of the playoffs.
The incredible showcase of skill from Jack Eichel on the cross-ice pass to set up Marchessault can’t go unnoticed either. Eichel has been the primary puck carrier for the Golden Knights’ power play throughout these playoffs and he’s gotten better with each opportunity they’ve had. This was Eichel’s 17th assist in just 20 career playoff games, and only Sidney Crosby (19), Adam Fox (18) and Nathan MacKinnon (18) have had more than him through that span.
While the Golden Knights didn’t end up with the same goal scoring output that they’ve had over their last three games, it’s good to see that their top players are all performing at the level necessary to win the Stanley Cup, and possibly take home a Conn Smythe Trophy in the process.
Final Thoughts
While the Golden Knights deserve criticism for not being able to take advantage of the numerous power play opportunities they had in order to extend their lead in this game, the Panthers deserve a significant amount of credit for fighting right until the end.
However, everything that needed to go right for the Panthers to win happened, which is good news for the Golden Knights in some ways. Outside of Bobrovsky stealing them games, the chance that the Panthers will remain competitive in this series if they continue to play as poorly as they have on the power play and penalty kill is very unlikely.
If the Golden Knights can find ways to capitalize on their opportunities, they should be in a good position to handle any pressure they may face moving forward.
