LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — An offensive outburst led to the Vegas Golden Knights running away with Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, defeating the Florida Panthers 7-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Monday night.
Despite putting up big numbers, Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said there is still room to tighten up and that Game 6 against the Dallas Stars was still the team's best postseason game.
"Our start was good. We finished some plays which helps. Then you get to 4-0, after the second period, I think there were parts there were we lost our competitive edge for some shifts," Cassidy said. "You've got to be real careful of that this time of the year. It's not a January game where the team's moving on to their next opponent and so are we. I liked our game. There's still things we'll look at that we know we can do better."
Things got physical right out of the gate. Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev hit Florida's Radko Gudas about seven minutes into the game. Gudas didn't return. When asked after the game, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said the team didn't have an update on his possible injury but that he was a major part of their lineup.
"He's really important. He's a force but he's also a much better hockey player," Maurice said. "He makes the highlight film because he's such a physical guy."
When asked about Barbashev's aggressiveness, teammate Alec Martinez said he had one question.
"I just asked him if he ate nails for breakfast. To see a guy like that, he contributes in so many facets of the game. He opens up a lot of space for the other two guys on his line with his physicality. He showed he's capable of scoring big goals too," Martinez said. "Some of those guys, you can insert anywhere and he'll be successful. He's just a good hockey player."
Another huge hit came at the end of the second period when Jack Eichel took one from Matthew Tkachuk.
"I just came off the bench and saw him in the middle of the ice with his head down. It doesn't matter who you are, you shouldn't be going through the middle with your head down. You're going to get hit," Tkachuk said. "I would go get hit too if I had my head down in the middle. It's not a big deal. He's a really good player. Really good players can get hit too."
Despite how bad it looked, Eichel took part of the blame.
"I took a couple of crossovers, kind of toe-picked a little bit and saw him at the last minute. He finished, what I saw, was a clean check on me," Eichel said. "It's a physical game. You're going to get hit sometimes. I just came in [to the locker room], regrouped, and was fine."
Eichel was back on the bench to start the third period, which gave the team a boost.
"It's okay to get hit in June. This is part of the journey. It hurts to win and it's not supposed to be easy," Cassidy said. "That's hockey and we've very, very happy to see him come back. Not only does it give us juice when a guy comes back to the bench but sometimes it can take the juice away from your opponent to see a guy return."
Even though the Golden Knights were up 4-0 at this point, the Florida Panthers looked to get a little momentum back after scoring a goal in the third period. In his first line coming off the bench, Eichel was able to find Jonathan Marchessault who scored moments after the Panthers, which the team said was big for killing that momentum.
"He's one of those guys that makes everyone look better," Marchessault said. "He gets a massive hit there, goes in the locker room, first shift back in the third period, he gets on the forecheck, on the body, wins the battle, and finds me. That's the resiliency we have in that locker room and it starts with your top guys and goes right through the lineup."
The legend of "Playoff Marchy" continues as he scored two goals and now has 12 this postseason, which is a new Golden Knights record. Brett Howden also scored two with Alec Martinez, Nicolas Roy, and Michael Amadio each scoring one.
Goaltender Adin Hill has also been a wall notching 29 saves in Monday night's game.
"It's probably been the most fun I've ever had playing hockey," Hill said. "I'm just enjoying it, cherishing it every day, and taking it one day at a time."
The Vegas Golden Knights are now up two games to none in the best-of-seven-series as both teams get ready to travel to Florida for Game 3 and 4. Martinez said the key will be to stay in the right mindframe in order to play their best.
"There's momentum swings throughout a series. We can enjoy this one but then it's back to square one," Martinez said. "Whether you have the momentum or not, you can't get too high and you can't get too low. We're going into their building. We know they're going to come out flying and we're going to have to be ready for it."
Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday night with the puck dropping at 5 p.m.