Ace Brad Marchand scored a goal and added an assist and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 shots in the Florida Panthers 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.
Jesper Boqvist found the back of the net to end a long scoring drought and put the Panthers on top 14:47 into the first. After Jeff Petry missed wide, the puck came to Donovan Sebrango at the right point. He immediately fed Boqvist, who shot the puck while on edge and caught the top corner through traffic with rookie goaler Carl Lindbom unset.
Sebrango would pick up his second assist of the night when he broke up an outlet pass and Gustav Forsling sent the puck off the glass to spring Marchand. The 37-year-old accelerated down the left side before cutting into the slot, making defenseman Kaedan Korczak look foolish, and slinging a backhand by Lindbom’s glove with 9:54 left in the second.
Tomas Hertl would finally get Vegas’ first goal against the Panthers this season 1:25 into the third. Bobrovsky denied a hard, low shot from Shea Theodore, but couldn’t handle it and Hertl reached out and roofed the rebound to halve the deficit.
The Cats killed off an interference call on Petry early in the third, and then quickly cashed in on a high-sticking minor to Alexander Holtz to go back up by a deuce at the 4:54 mark.
After playing catch with Marchand, Seth Jones sent a low shot into the slot and Sam Reinhart tipped it just past Lindbom’s skate and inside the far post for his eighth of the season.
Florida would need that goal as the Golden Knights would again pull within one. Brayden McNabb took a pass along the left boards from Mitch Marner and tried to cross to Ivan Barbashev. Aaron Ekblad got his stick on the pass, but the puck popped up into the air and Barbashev was able to glove it down and snap it over Bobrovsky with 10:56 left in regulation.
Vegas pushed hard for the equalizer, holding Florida without a shot the rest of the way, but Bobrovsky would not yield a third time, allowing the Panthers to escape Sin City with two points.
Kudos to the Panthers for grinding out a positive result against a struggling, but quality opponent in the final game of the road trip to finish the western swing with a respectable 2-2 record. Going a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, including an extended 5-on-3 in the second period, was key. The Cats will return to South Florida a game above .500 and open a five-game homestand against the Washington Capitals on Thursday. It’s time for this team to start stacking wins.
The Five Hole
- Brad Marchand scored for the fifth-straight game and delivered his fifth multi-point performance of the season. It’s his longest goal streak since the 2015-16 campaign, when he had runs of seven games and five games. Marchand has points (8G/4A) in his last eight outings.
- Sergei Bobrovsky collected his eighth win of the season and 437th of his illustrious career. That ties him with the legendary Jacques Plante for ninth all-time.
- Waiver claim Donovan Sebrango’s helpers were his first two points in the NHL. Sebrango, who dropped the gloves with Jeremy Lauzon in the first, was also credited with two hits and a blocked shot.
- Sam Reinhart’s timely power-play marker gave him goals in six of the last eight games. Reinhart’s leads the team with three game-winning goals.
- Jesper Boqvist’s lit the lamp for just the second time this season. He hadn’t scored since the opening night win against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Stat Card
