We are closing in on Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights. At the end of the series one of the two franchises will claim its first title in the NHL.
While regular season and playoff hockey are two different animals, let’s take a look back at the two tilts the clubs played against each other during the 2022-23 campaign. Each team won on home ice, and despite all the Golden Knights goaltending woes, it was Adin Hill, facing Sergei Bobrovsky, between the pipes in both games.
Golden Knights 4, Panthers 2 (January 12, 2023)
The Cats remained winless in Sin City, dropping a tough 4-2 decision to Vegas at T-Mobile Arena to conclude a four-game road trip with a 2-2 record.
Florida entered the third period up by one, but as been the case many a time this season, they couldn’t add on and the Golden Knights got the game-tying goal from recently-returned Jack Eichel at 8:37 and the winner from William Carrier with 2:36 left in regulation.
Eichel took an outlet pass from Kaeden Korczak and beat Bobrovsky five-hole on a breakaway (nothing new there…) after Marc Staal had his shot blocked in the Vegas zone.
The goal came a few minutes after the Panthers failed to cash in on a long two-man advantage. That failure went a long way into turning a potential win into Florida’s 20th loss.
Carrier crashed the net to convert a centering pass from Keegan Kolesar, who made the play after gloving down an attempted clear. The goal survived a challenge from head coach Paul Maurice.
With Sam Reinhart in the penalty box and Bobrovsky off for an extra attacker, William Karlsson picked off Sam Bennett and put the clincher into an empty net with a 1:07 remaining.
Vegas had just six shots in the third and scored on three of them. Ay, Dios mío!
The Panthers opened the scoring with 2:02 left in the first period. Eetu Luostarinen tipped the puck to on an onrushing Aaron Ekblad, who broke in on Hill and hit the post. Nick Cousins was awarded the goal after it was ruled that defenseman Ben Hutton knocked Eric Staal into the net, jarring it loose from its moorings.
Nichols Roy evened it up at 4:08 of the second, scoring from the inner edge of the right circle after Brandon Montour couldn’t handle an Aleksander Barkov pass and Kolesar hit him with an nifty little backhand drop.
Florida retook the lead at 12:47 with Karlsson off for interfering with Bobrovsky. Hill lost his stick after stopping Sam Bennett in tight. Bennett got to the rebound and passed to Barkov, who fed Tkachuk in the bumper position. Tkachuk quickly centered to Reinhart in the slot and he banged a shot past the stick-less keeper. Nice piece of work by the Cats power play.
If the Panthers were a little more careful with the puck they likely would’ve won this one. A hop over Montour’s stick led to the first Vegas goal. Staal the defenseman failed to get his shot through on the second. Anton Lundell’s aerial clear didn’t get out over blue line on the game-winner, and Bennett got picked off on the empty-netter. In addition to the carelessness with the puck, some of the more common elements of a Cats loss were on display yet again. A lack of finishing ability (two goals on 39 shots), a complete failure on the power play at a key moment, and Bobrovsky getting outplayed by the opposing backup. Florida finished a difficult road trip with a respectable .500 record, but based on where they are at in the standings, that’s just not going to cut it.
Panthers 2, Golden Knights 1 (March 7, 2023)
The Panthers kept pace with the Eastern Conference’s two wild cards with a taut 2-1 victory over the Golden Knights at FLA Live Arena.
Bobrovsky stopped 31 of 32 shots to earn his 20th win of the season. It’s the tenth time the 34-year-old keeper has hit that plateau in his NHL career.
Florida started fast and took an early lead when Ryan Lomberg lit the lamp at the 4:25 mark. After Lundell pressured Shea Theodore, he turned the puck over to Josh Mahura. Mahura passed Lomberg in the high slot and he snapped a quick wrist shot past Hill to equal his career-high of nine goals.
The Panthers solved the former Shark for the final time 4:05 into the second when Cousins retrieved a loose puck down low and fed in front to Anthony Duclair, who passed over to Barkov for what turned out to be the game-winner. Cousins’ assist was the 100th of his career.
Theodore would atone for his earlier mistake with a power-play blast from up high with the assists going to Eichel and Reilly Smith at 13:23 after the Cats got called for too many men on the ice. Eichel’s helper gave him 15 points in his past 12 games.
Bobrovsky would go on to stop the final 18 shots from the Golden Knights, including all ten in the third to guide the Cats to their second win on this crucial seven-game homestand, which started with a loss to Nashville.
The win put the Panthers five games above NHL .500 for the first time this season. Florida played well throughout, but it was a little disappointing they couldn’t score more and put it way earlier. The Cats hit the 70-point mark, moving past Buffalo and Ottawa, and remained within striking distance of the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins, who both won last night.