Sergei Bobrovsky posted his first shutout of the season in the Florida Panthers suffocating 3-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights at Amerant Bank Arena.
The Cats limited the Golden Knights to just 17 shots on goal to get back to .500 at 5-5.
As a low event first period was coming to end, Carter Verhaeghe took an outlet pass from Evan Rodrigues and then sent a perfect feed to Sam Reinhart on the left side. Reinhart burst by Kaedan Korczak on his way to the net before beating Akira Schmid with a low shot with 2:41 to go in the frame.
Florida carried the play in the second period, outshooting the Golden Knights 12-5, but Schmid stood tall to keep it a one-goal game.
Cole Schwindt, playing his first game of the season, came up with the key insurance goal 3:29 into the third. Jonah Gadjovich stole the puck from Zach Whitecloud below the goal line and set up A.J. Greer in front. Schmid was able to deny Greer’s fanned shot, but Schwindt swooped in, collected the loose puck and threw it into the cage for his first goal as a Panther.
Greer would get a goal of his own at the 10:04 mark, scoring on a wraparound after taking a return pass from Brad Marchand to put the game away.
After starting to put things together halfway through Thursday’s loss to Pittsburgh, the Panthers delivered one of their better efforts of the young season to hand the Golden Knights their first loss in regulation time. A quality win against a quality opponent. More, please. The Cats will finish off the three-game homestand when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.
The Five Hole
- Sergei Bobrovsky recorded the 50th shutout of his NHL career and 17th with the Panthers. He is the 33rd goalie in league history with that many regular season shutouts.
- Sam Reinhart, who has scored in back-to-back games, was named First Star. In addition to his game-winning goal, Reinhart led Florida’s forwards with 21:32 TOI and was credited with four shots and two blocks.
- A.J. Greer was the game’s only multi-point player and he was one of three Cats to finish with a +2 rating. Defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling were the others.
- Cole Schwindt’s second NHL goal came against in his first appearance against his former team. Schwindt played 42 games for the Golden Knights last season, producing a goal and seven assists.
- Brad Marchand’s assist was his team-leading sixth and extended his point streak to three games. Marchand’s has put up at least point in eight of Florida’s ten games.
Stat Card
