Panthers avoid sweep, defeat VGK 3-2 in overtime

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Florida Panthers avoided being swept by the Golden Knights after winning 3-2 in overtime at FLA Live Arena Thursday night. According to the National Hockey League, Thursday also marked the 27th anniversary of the Florida Panthers first Stanley Cup Final game on home ice.

Vegas now leads the series 2-1 as both teams get ready for Game 4, which is set for Saturday in Florida.

Here's how Game 3 turned out.

PREGAME

The Vegas Golden Knights cameinto Game 3 focused and knowing what they needed to do in order to extend the series lead over Florida. That included killing Panthers power plays.

"I think we're managing the puck really well," said Shea Theodore. "Our forecheck's been strong and we've had guys reloading through the middle. We've caused a lot of turnovers. It's made our life as a D corps pretty easy. I think just having our forwards be in the right spots to help us out and we've done a good job of breaking the puck out as well."

Head coach Bruce Cassidy said balancing time on the ice has also been key since Game 3 will be the Golden Knights 102nd game this season.

"I think sometimes injuries happen and there's not much you can do about it and other times, they happen because of fatigue and overuse," Cassidy said. "We don't fall into the latter. We haven't really taxed our guys maybe as much as other teams and that's by design. We've also been fortunate that we haven't been in these long overtime games where that can have an effect. Sometimes you need a little bit of that to go your way."

Cassidy added that having players who have been to a Stanley Cup Final series will also help.

"You're coming into a road building. They're down a couple of games so you know to expect their best," Cassidy said. "Those veteran guys will try to balance being on their toes and playing with composure and taking a breath when it gets loud. Tonight will be a good example especially if things don't go our way. We need those calming voices."

RELATED LINK: 1-on-1 with Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy

Team chemistry has been one key to the team's success this season and Cassidy said that included the Elvis wig and glasses that are handed out after every game. That's thanks to Jack Eichel.

"I think it's a big thing for us and our locker room, to be honest with you," Cassidy said. "You've got to have a sense of humor and creativity as well. I think those things can go a long way over a long playoff run and I think that's one thing that's been talked about and all the guys want to get it."

FIRST PERIOD

Just over four minutes into the period, Florida's Brandon Montour was able to rip one past Adin Hill to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Heading into Thursday night's game, Montour hadn't scored a goal in 10 games. However, Hill was able to make an impressive stop moments later when Anthony Duclair was alone in the slot and tried to get one by him.

At 6:01, Keegan Kolesar had a big shoulder-to-shoulder hit on Matthew Tkachuk in open ice but William Carrier was called for high-sticking against Sam Bennett to give the Panthers its first power play of the night. However, the Golden Knights were able to kill it off. Following the play, Tkachuk went to the locker room.

The Golden Knights had a chance at 12:14 as Jack Eichel dug a puck out rom behind the Vegas net and got it up to Ivan Barbashev. It would have been a two-on-one situation with Barbashev and Jonathan Marchessault but Marc Staal was called out for tripping Eichel. That gave Vegas its first power play of the night. Florida was able to kill of the power play after Eichel got off the Golden Knights second shot on goal and weren't able to score.

With 4:43 left in the first period, Carrier was called for boarding and then Radko Gudas retaliated with cross-checking, which made it four-on-four while the pair served their two-minute penalty. Zach Whitecloud was then tripped by Duclair to give Vegas a four-on-three advantage.

Vegas was able to tie things up at 3:57. Mark Stone was able to tip a shot by Jonathan Marchessault past Sergei Bobrovsky. That was Stone's eighth goal this postseason. Marchessault picked up the assist on the play. He has five points in this series and 22 this postseason.

That was the last goal of the period. Florida had five shots on goal while Vegas had six.

SECOND PERIOD

Less than two minutes into the period, Carrier is called for his third penalty of the night. This time, it was for tripping Colin White. However, Florida wasn't able to take advantage of the power play. They've gone 0-10 on the power play this series. Tkachuk also returned to the bench following the goal.

Vegas had a great shot on goal at 4:05 after Eichel was able to find Nicolas Hague but Bobrovsky was able to get the stop. With that, Tkachuk returned to the ice after getting hit by Kolesar in the first period. The Golden Knights were able to get back on the power play at 4:56 after Aaron Ekblad was called for holding against Chandler Stephenson. Vegas is 1-2 on the night when it comes to power plays and have had five power-play goals in this series so far. Florida was able to kill the power play with another save by Bobrovsky. Seven minutes into the second period, Vegas had six shots on goal compared to none for the Panthers.

Eight minutes into the period, Brayden McNabb was called for hooking against Duclair to put Florida back on the power play. Bennett was able to get a wrister off that was stopped by Hill. Vegas killed the power play once again and is now 10-10 in the Stanley Cup Final.

At 14:13, it looked like VGK had a chance but Aleksander Barkov was called for high-sticking. However, the penalty gave the Golden Knights another power play. For the second time on the knight, Vegas was able to score with an unreal pass from Eichel to Marchessault who found the back of the net at 14:59 to put the Golden Knights up 2-1.

That was his 13th goal of the postseason and Marchessault is now one of only three players in the last 35 years to score in each of the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final. (In case you're wondering, the other two were Steve Yzerman and Jake Guentzel.)

It was also Eichel's fifth point of the series and would be the last goal of the period.

And in case that wasn't enough, Eichel and Marchessault made NHL history on the play because the goal was only their 23rd points of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

With just 38 seconds left, Anton Lundell was called for slashing against Ivan Barbashev. That meant Vegas would start the third period on the power play.

THIRD PERIOD

VGK was on the power play for the first minute and 23 seconds of the third but Florida was able to kill it. Florida got its next chance with 12:38 left in the third. Eichel was called for hooking to put the Panthers back on the power play. However, the Golden Knights killed it again and have a perfect record sitting at 12-for-12.

At 9:35, the game was momentarily delayed due to an ice problem. When the game resumed, Gudas went for a hit on Barbashev who went for the reverse hit. That led to a small scrum on the ice. Both of them are getting a two-minute penalty for roughing. With 6:15 left in the third, Montour went to the locker room dragging his arm.

Barbashev came close to scoring for Vegas with 4:18 to go. However, it was saved by Bobrovsky. The Vegas defense has been solid throughout the game. With three minutes to go, Golden Knights have blocked 28 shots compared to the Panthers 11. That also signaled Florida to pull Bobrovsky from the net.

With an empty net and an extra player on the ice, the Panthers tied the game after a shot by Tkachuk.

Vegas got on the power play with just 11 seconds left in the game after Stephenson was tripped up. Barkov was called for tripping. Vegas wasn't able to score, which forced overtime.

OVERTIME

The Golden Knights were on the power play to start overtime due to the penalty against Barkov at the end of the third. However, there was nothing cooking for Vegas as Florida killed the power play.

The Panthers avoided being swept as Carter Verhaeghe found the back of the net 4:27 into overtime. The win means Florida is now 7-0 in overtime in the playoffs. For Vegas, it's the first postseason game the team has lost after leading for two periods.