Golden Knights win nail-biter over Florida Panthers

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Vegas Golden Knights tamed the Florida Panthers in a nail-biter on Saturday night. The final score was 3-2. Vegas is now up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series and is one win away from taking home the Stanley Cup. Both teams are coming back to Las Vegas for Game 5. That's set for Tuesday at the Fortress with the puck dropping at 5 p.m.

Here's how things went down.

PREGAME

Going into Game 4, head coach Bruce Cassidy said he knew the team would be able to bounce back and come out aggressively.

"It's a proud group, especially in the playoffs. You want a response," Cassidy said. "It's always about hey, this is how we got here and this is how we want to play. We're a good team. We want to get back in the win column. Guys know what's at stake."

It's the same mindset players had.

"We could have lost that game 7-1 and it still feels the same for us," said Mark Stone. "It's a loss so guys are reset and just getting ready for the next one and getting ready for the task in front of you."

"We've been pretty good at bouncing back after losses and responding in the right way and I think some of that has to do with some of the experience and veteran leadership on the team but I think also just the character of the guys," said Jack Eichel. "I think that speaks volumes about our ability to come back after losing games and have a good performance and we're going to need one tonight."

"There's always a balance of staying loose but also being ready," said Alex Pietrangelo. "We're really good at flipping the switch and getting ready for the next game so today's no different."

Cassidy added he gave the team a pep talk on what to work on for Saturday's game.

"The message today is a little bit about there's a lot of the same that we did well but the harder message is they scored a 6-on-5 goal because they outnumbered us at the net so that's an area we have to continue to harp on with our group," Cassidy said. "Pucks are coming there so we've got to make sure. Offensively, hanging around, getting in front of their goaltender a little better. He saw a lot of our chances and made good saves so that's our messaging."

So what can VGK fans expect? According to Keegan Kolesar, Knights on the prowl.

"I think we're playing with an attack mentality," Kolesar said. "When there's a fumbled puck or a loose puck, we're jumping on it. We're coming out of those battles. I think we're following our structure to a T right now. We see what we can clean up and we take another step in the right direction."

FIRST PERIOD

Vegas got the first shot off 21 seconds into the game. Jack Eichel makes a nice pass to Ivan Barbshev but the slap shot was saved by Sergei Bobrovsky. The Golden Knights aggressiveness led to a goal by Chandler Stephenson just 1:31 into the game. Mark Stone was able to clear his zone. Stephenson then got in along the blue line and followed through on a pass from Zach Whitecloud to find the back of the net.

That's the 10th time during this playoff run that Vegas have scored within the first five minutes of the game and the Golden Knights have won eight of those games. According to the National Hockey League, that's the most by a team in 25 years.

Adin Hill continued to be a wall and defend the net. He ended the first period with 12 saves including three incredible blocks to keep Matthew Tkachuk from scoring.

With 13 minutes left in the first period, the updated DraftKings moneyline was Vegas -230, Florida +150.

That would be it for the first period with Vegas leading Florida 1-0. The Golden Knights wrapped up the period with 12 shots on goal compared to the Panthers 11.

SECOND PERIOD

Vegas had another chance to get on the board less than three minutes into the period. Stone took the puck from Ekblad and set up Stephenson for another shot on goal but it was saved by Brobovsky. At 2:52, Florida got its first penalty of the game after Marc Staal was called for tripping Stone. That put Vegas on its first power play of the night. However, there was nothing cooking for the Knights with no shots on goal after Florida killed it off.

At 7:28, Stone was able to set up Stephenson who ripped a shot to the back of the net to give Vegas a 2-0 lead. Nic Hague also picked up an assist on the play.

That marked Stephenson's second muti-goal game of the playoffs and is the 12th by a Golden Knights player.

That goal also generated a big reaction from about 10,000 fans watching the game at Las Vegas Ballpark, which is just one of several watch parties around town.

Vegas added another goal about four minutes later thanks to William Karlsson. Nicolas Hague got a shot off, which was blocked by Bobrovsky. However, Karlsson was able to get the rebound first and scored after getting the puck behind Bobrovsky at 11:04 in the second period. Marchessault was also credited with an assist to get his 24th point of playoffs. That puts him in the VGK team lead and ties the NHL lead. It also means Marchessault has gotten points in nine straight games, which is a club record and the longest in the NHL this season.

Florida got one back with 3:51 in the second period thanks to a little puck luck. That's when Brandon Montour was able to sneak one past Hill on a pinball play that saw the puck bounce off Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore.

With less than two minutes in the second period, Eichel was took a puck to the neck, removed his helmet, and went to the dressing room. One of the key phrases the Golden Knights have been repeating during playoffs is "It Hurts To Win."

That would end the second period with Vegas up over the Panthers 3-1.

THIRD PERIOD

Eichel was not on the bench to start the third period but returned about a minute and a half in.

Florida continued trying to claw back. At 3:42, it was Aleksander Barkov who scored following a pass from Montour. That was Barkov's first point of the series.

With 7:59 in the third, Eichel had a chance to score a snap shot on goal but once again, Bobrovsky made another key save. Another chance came with 3:15 to go but Bobrovsky denied Jonathan Marchessualt on a breakaway.

At 2:30, Florida pulled Bobrosvky from the net to get an extra attacker on the ice. The Panthers also got a power play with 17.4 seconds left on the clock after Alex Pietrangelo was penalized for a delay of game when the puck went into the netting. However, the Golden Knights defense was able to hold on for the win. After a huge save from Hill, a scrum broke out on the ice as fans threw trash and plastic rats before both teams skated away.

Saturday night was also a record-breaking night for Hill. According to the NHL, Hill became the first goaltender to earn 10 wins in a single postseason after not playing in his team's opening round.