Golden Knights recover against Panthers, end five-game losing streak

LAS VEGAS --The Vegas Golden Knights ended a five-game losing streak with a 5-3 win against the Florida Panthers at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

Evgenii Dadonov scored twice, and Logan Thompson made 33 saves for Vegas (33-26-4).
"That was a [heck] of a gutsy win," Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer said. "Lot of big efforts. … The kid (Thompson) played well in net."
Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel left the game late in the second period with an upper-body injury after blocking a shot with his hand.
"He didn't come back, so obviously that's not good," DeBoer said. "He'll get evaluated and we'll know more (Friday)."
Aaron Ekblad had three assists, and Spencer Knight made 28 saves for Florida (41-14-6), which had its seven-game point streak end (6-0-1).
"We were a little sloppy. It took about 30-35 minutes to get dragged into the fight," Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said. "They wanted it more. It was a little bit disappointing. You get your power play to tie the game, and then kind of a fluky goal against."
Sam Reinhart tied it 3-3 at 12:26 of the third period, deflecting Ekblad's one-timer from the point on the power play.
Nicolas Roy responded 57 seconds later to make it 4-3. After Sam Bennett fell down at the blue line, Roy collected the puck, skated in on a breakaway, and deked Knight before finishing with his backhand.
"There was a loose puck there," Roy said. "It was nice timing to get back on the board."

William Karlsson shot into an empty net at 18:10 for the 5-3 final.
Carter Verhaeghe gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 8:04 of the first period, scoring on his own rebound near the right post after his initial backhand chance hit the side of the net.
Brett Howden tied it 1-1 at 17:09. The goal was his ninth this season, tying an NHL career high he set with the New York Rangers in 2019-20.
"It was great to be back," said Howden, who missed the previous seven games with an undisclosed injury. "I tried to play my game, bring some energy. I think we played really good."
Dadonov put the Golden Knights in front 2-1 at 5:38 of the second period. He skated into the zone, cut around Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling, and shot high blocker side.
"I saw open ice, cut it and just shot it," Dadonov said. "I didn't think much about it."
Dadonov then extended the lead to 3-1 at 14:32, deflecting Shea Theodore's point shot on the power play.

Bennett cut it to 3-2 at 17:38. Anthony Duclair had his own rebound pop out to him and quickly slid a pass over to Bennett, who shot past the outstretched stick of Thompson.
NOTES:Ekblad has scored 291 points in the NHL (97 goals, 194 assists), passing Robert Svehla for the most by a defenseman in Florida history. … Defenseman Derrick Pouliot, who signed a one-year contract with the Golden Knights earlier in the day, had one assist in 14:22 of ice time. "He's played 200 NHL games. He's got that composure that you can stick him at this time of year against a team like that. He's not going to feel overwhelmed," DeBoer said. … Vegas forward Mattias Janmark returned after missing 10 games with an upper-body injury. He was plus-2 in 13:29 of ice time.