RECAP: Panthers 4, Golden Knights 2

SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers are heading into the holiday break feeling great following a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Getting a little bit of payback, the matchup marked the first time the Panthers have played the Knights since Vegas eliminated them from the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.

With the win, Florida improved to 19-12-2 this season.

“Now we get to feel good about where we are at Christmas,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “That it was Vegas doesn’t matter to us. We couldn’t win the Cup or lose the Cup tonight. We could win the game we were playing, and we did it as well as we could’ve.”

While neither team found the back of the net in the first period, it was the Panthers that threw the first punch – literally. After agreeing to a brawl, Ryan Lomberg needed just a single punch to take down Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar and bring fans to their feet.  

If you recall, it was a hit from Kolesar that knocked Matthew Tkachuk out of the Stanley Cup Final.

“Credit to him for kind of letting me get redemption for last year,” said Lomberg, who couldn’t fight in the Final due to a hand injury. “He’s the guy that caught Chucky to take him out of the series. He gave me a chance to even the score. Obviously a pretty tough customer.”

Despite not getting rewarded, the Panthers dominated Vegas during the opening 20 minutes of action. Not only did they lead 20-3 in shots on goal, but also 14-1 in scoring chances. Their three shots against also matched their season-low for a single period.

After just surviving the first period, the Knights went on the offensive in the second and broke the ice when Mark Stone buried a quick shot from the slot to make it 1-0 at 1:21.

Getting that goal back for the Panthers, Sam Bennett beat Jiri Patera, the third-string goalie for the Knights, with a short-side snipe from the left circle to make it 1-1 at 8:58.

“We were playing a really solid game, so we knew it was just a matter of time until we got one,” Bennett said. “It was big that we were able to capitalize and start rolling after.”

After nearly pulling off an end-to-end goal for the ages earlier in the period, Gustav Forsling received a delayed reward when he wired home a point shot through traffic after a faceoff win in the offensive zone to put the Panthers on top and make it 2-1 at 15:16.

Tying things up for the Knights with just 22.3 seconds remaining in the second period, Pavel Dorofeyev deposited a cross-slot feed from Ben Hutton to bring the score to 2-2.

Early in the third period, Sergei Bobrovsky flashed leather on a one-timer from Jonathan Marchessault to keep Vegas from taking the lead on the power play. On a power play of their own soon after, Carter Verhaeghe picked a corner to put Florida up 3-2 at 6:10.

Bobrovsky finished with 23 saves, while Patera made 38.

Earning another trip to the man advantage after Evan Rodrigues was cross-checked by Zach Whitecloud, the Panthers made the Knights pay again. With Tkachuk screening Patera, Sam Reinhart buried a one-timer from the right circle to make it 4-2 at 8:09.

Reinhart enters the holiday break ranking tied for fourth in the NHL with 19 goals.

“The power play was good tonight,” Verhaeghe said. “I think we were shooting the puck, getting lots of chances. We had a couple opportunities to feel it out there, which is nice. It’s definitely huge for the power play. It plays a big part in the game.”

With a few players on the Knights seemingly making a last-minute bid for Santa’s naughty list, a sizeable scrum broke one when Knights forward Paul Cotter slammed Tkachuk to the ice along the boards. After the dust settled, Cotter was given a penalty for roughing.

With 5.4 seconds left, another brawl broke out.

But in the end, the Cats kept their cool and picked up a big two points before the break.

“They’re a really good team, and they beat us last year obviously,” Verhaeghe said. “A little bit more emotional of a game. We wanted to get right back on track, and it was nice to get the win.”

THEY SAID IT

“I think we’re all really happy with our game tonight. We were hard, we were fast and we were physical when we needed to be. It’s a good one to leave off on.” – Ryan Lomberg

“We’re grinding and trying to get pucks to the net. We’re getting really good chances, and some of them aren’t going in. To see a couple go in finally, hopefully we can continue that.” – Carter Verhaeghe

“It had a little bit of a playoff feel to that game. It was an intense game. Lots of hitting and physical play. I thought that was a really solid 60-minute game from our group.” – Sam Bennett

“It was almost the perfect remedy. We didn’t care for our last game. It’s more the style than the result. The first period is about stylistically as close to the game we want to play as much as we can.” – Paul Maurice

CATS STATS

- Florida held Vegas to 0.08 expected goals in the first period.

- Aleksander Barkov is now tied for the most multi-assist games in club history (89).

- Carter Verhaeghe scored his 100^th goal as a member of the Panthers.

- The Panthers own a 10-5-0 record at home this season.

- Sergei Bobrovsky made six high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers will get to soak in this win for a while.

After a few days of rest and relaxation for the holiday break, they’ll return to the ice to host the New York Rangers at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.