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Tkachuk and Verhaeghe rally Panthers to 3-2 overtime win over Golden Knights

Posted on by Todd Little

Matthew Tkachuk tied it with 2:13 left in regulation, setting the stage for Carter Verhaeghe’s winner 4:27 into overtime as the Florida Panthers rallied for an enormous 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

With Sergei Bobrovsky off for an extra attacker, Verhaeghe took a pass from Aaron Ekblad and let go of a one-timer that was denied by Adin Hill. Fortunately, the rebound came right to Tkachuk, who coolly put it home to knot the scores at two.

After Gustav Forsling was called for a very iffy tripping penalty at 19:48, the Panthers killed off  the infraction and then won it soon after when Sam Bennett reeled in Forsling’s outlet pass, gained the zone and slid a pass over to Verhaeghe.

With time and space to skate into, Verhaeghe unleashed a rising wrister that beat Hill through some traffic with Tkachuk driving the net. It was the fourth postseason overtime goal of his career and gave the Florida franchise its first ever win in a final. Glorious!!! Verhaeghe is the only player in NHL history to score multiple overtime goals in consecutive playoff seasons.

Prior to the late-game goals, Bobrovsky was heroic, keeping the Cats from burning their eighth life with key save after key save. Bobrovsky was huge in the second period, stopping 12 of 13 shots, as Vegas was buzzing for much of the frame. He came up with a huge kick save on William Karlsson, who was wide open in slot during the third.

After taking their lumps in Sin City, Florida got off to a fast start when Tkachuk collected the rebound of Marc Staal’s miss and backhanded the puck to Brandon Montour just above the left circle. Montour ripped a shot over a crouching Hill’s melon for his seventh of the postseason at the 4:08 mark.

The Panthers sent the Golden Knights to the power play a total of six times and Vegas converted twice. Florida really needs to play more disciplined as the parade to the penalty box almost cost them their season.

Radko Gudas was boarded by William Carrier late in the first period and instead of keeping his cool, he then sought out and cross-checked Carrier resulting in a 4-on-4 situation. Anthony Duclair followed up Gudas’ blunder by needlessly tripping Zach Whitecloud 23 seconds later to put the Golden Knights up a man.

On the 4-on-3, Jonathan Marchessault played catch with Shea Theodore before firing off a shot/pass that Mark Stone redirected by Bobrovsky at 16:03.

Late in the second period, Aleksander Barkov took another dumb penalty, crossing-checking Whitecould between the numbers to get called for interference.

Marchessault scored yet again at 14:59 with a perfectly-placed one-timer off a pretty cross-ice pass from Jack Eichel. Stone got the secondary helper on Marchessault’s league-leading 13th postseason goal.

A very gritty effort from the Panthers, who looked much more like the team that beat Toronto and Carolina. That said, there is work to be done. Florida was still outplayed for large chunks of this game and Vegas continues to dominate the special teams battle, going 2-for-6 on the power play while the Cats looked largely lost in going 0-for-5. The Cats also were “credited” with 24 giveaways. Those concerns can wait, let’s just bask in the joy of a Stanley Cup win today.

Aces & Deuces

  • The Panthers (7-0 this postseason) have won 10 straight overtime games in the playoffs dating back to Game 3 of the 2021 Eastern Conference First Round against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
  • Sergei Bobrovsky earned Second Star honors for his 25-save gem. Among the dandies was a glove save on Nicolas Hague’s open shot from the left circle early in the second period and a right pad stop on Jonathan Marchessault’s shot soon after. There was also an impressive two-save sequence on Shea Theodore and Brett Howden that comes to mind.
  • Speaking of Marchessault, he has four goals in three games in the series. He 13 points (8G/5A) during an eight-game point streak and 13 goals in the past 13 games. If Vegas wins the series, Marchessault should get the Conn Smythe Trophy.
  • Another multi-point game for Matthew Tkachuk, who came off the mat after absorbing a big hit from Keegan Kolesar in the first period to match Roope Hintz with a league-best 24 points.
  • Brandon Montour’s goal was his first in 11 games. Montour has bagged seven goals while the rest of Florida’s defense corps has combined for three.
  • For the sadder side of Florida’s first Stanley Cup win, stop by Knights On Ice.

Talking Points