The Florida Panthers earned their first-ever Stanley Cup Final win and avoided falling into a 3-0 hole with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.
The Panthers overcame a late 2-1 deficit to force overtime and came up with the win as Carter Verhaeghe scored 4:27 into the overtime period.
“Guys were executing unbelievably tonight,” Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky told the media after the game. “We defended very well, [and] we didn’t give them much space or room or time. That’s a big win for us.”
Brandon Montour gave Florida a 1-0 lead 4:08 into the game, but Vegas followed it with power-play goals from Mark Stone and Jonathan Marchessault to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. Vegas’ power play has struggled throughout the playoffs, but the Golden Knights converted on two of their six opportunities Thursday.
Nonetheless, Bobrovsky helped keep the Panthers in the game, making a series of challenging, point-blank saves in the second period despite allowing eight goals through the series’ first two games.
“We know the confidence that he has,” Montour told NHL Network of his goalie after the game. “We as a team didn’t like our last results, but he’s going to battle back. He plays the same regardless, his mindset’s [the same] regardless, and we knew he was going to have a big game.”
Trailing 2-1 with under three minutes left in regulation, Florida pulled Bobrovsky to deploy a sixth skater in an effort to tie the game. The strategy worked as a flurry of shots in front of Vegas goalie Adin Hill put the puck on the stick of Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk, who fired it into an open net as Hill slid the other direction.
Florida was given a penalty as the period wound down but managed to reach overtime and killed it to start the extra period.
Minutes later, Panthers forward Sam Bennett took a pass off the boards, skated it up the ice while dodging defenders, and fired a pass to Verhaeghe just in front of the blue line as the Panthers gained the offensive zone. Verhaeghe let a wrist shot go through three defenders, and the puck sailed past Hill’s glove and into the net.
“I don’t know if there was a screen or a tip [in front of the net],” Vegas Coach Bruce Cassidy said in a postgame press conference. “It looked like it wasn’t going to be a game-ending play, and it went in the net. Sometimes that happens to you.”
Florida now trails 2-1 in its second appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals and will have the chance to tie the series in Game 4.
“Nobody cares how we got here,” Tkachuk explained after the game. “It’s a 2-1 series. We came into this game just to win one game, and we did, and we’re going to do that exact same thing going into Game 4. Just win that game.”
The 2023 Stanley Cup Final continues with Game 4 in Florida at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday.
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