Global Courant
Jonathan Marchessault scored twice to start an early blitz that chased the NHL’s top postseason goaltender, and the Vegas Golden Knights seized control of the Stanley Cup Finals with a 7–2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 2 at Monday night.
Adin Hill continued his stellar play in net with 29 saves for the Golden Knights, who took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“I think our draft has been a strength all year,” said Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy. “It’s the main reason we’re still here, why we beat Winnipeg, Edmonton, Dallas. I just feel like we have the best team from player one through twenty.”
Marchessault also had an assist to finish with three points. His 12 postseason goals set a Golden Knights record, and all of them came after the first round. The only player with more after the opening round was Pavel Bure, who scored 13 for Vancouver in 1994.
Brett Howden scored twice for the Knights, who also conceded goals from Alec Martinez, Nicolas Roy and Michael Amadio. Six players had at least two points for Vegas, all 18 Knights skaters were on the ice for equal-strength goals, and their nine goalscorers in the first two games are a Stanley Cup Final record. The Knights’ seven goals tied the game for a playoff game.
Brett Howden now finds the back of the net and makes it 4-0 pic.twitter.com/Vdjpws7Bfw
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It was too much for Panthers goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky, who was removed 4-0 with 7:10 into the second period. It was the fifth time in 12 games that the Knights chased the opposing goalkeeper.
Two-time Vezina Trophy winner Bobrovsky swept Florida through the Eastern Conference playoffs. Entering the Stanley Cup Final, he had won 11 of his past 12 starts with a 1.95 goals conceded average and a 0.942 save percentage during that stretch. But against Vegas, he conceded eight goals in 87 minutes for a GAA of 5.52 and a series save percentage of 0.826.
“We can be a little better for our goalkeeper,” said Panthers coach Paul Maurice. “I took him out to give him a rest.”
Matthew Tkachuk and Anton Lundell scored for Florida.
you can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him pic.twitter.com/tWQoSa2j4w
Teams that take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final are 31-3 in the expansion era. The Panthers will try to make history starting with Game 3 on Thursday in Sunrise, Florida.
Hill again brought both his spunk and his A-game. He stopped Carter Verhaeghe on a breakaway in the first inning, and later that span hit Tkachuk, who was in his net, with his blocker and then slashed him with his stick.
“He’s been unreal to us,” said Vegas forward William Carrier. “He’s been incredible.”
The Knights were dominant early on and took a 2-0 lead in the first period through goals from Marchessault and Martinez. It was Vegas’ third game in a row with a power play goal, its first game since Christmas week.
The Panthers lost their biggest and strongest defenseman early in the game when Radko Gudas was injured on a hit by Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev. Gudas left at 6:39 pm and did not return.
That was one of many big hits from Barbashev, the biggest signing for the Golden Knights, a Stanley Cup champion with St. Louis in 2019. Barbashev broke Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard’s sternum last year during the playoffs, also on a clean hit.
Vegas had his own scare late in the second period when Jack Eichel was nailed in the right shoulder by Tkachuk. Eichel returned in the third to set up Marchessault’s second goal for his second assist of the game.
“We managed the momentum well tonight,” said Eichel. “And we have some timely goals.”
