The Florida Panthers played their first home game in three weeks and fell to the Vegas Golden Knights 7-2 at BB&T Center on Thursday night. The Panthers have not played in Sunrise since January 16 against the Los Angeles Kings.
Former Panthers head coach Pete DeBoer coached his seventh game with the Golden Knights, who finished off a four-game road trip following the NHL All-Star Game break and eighth straight road contest. The Panthers have lost three of their last four games since their break.
Vegas(28-21-7) got the scoreboard at 2:15 of the first period to go ahead 1-0. Mark Stone made a lead pass from the neutral zone to Chandler Stephenson on the right circle. He flicked a shot from the right of the crease which was saved by Sergei Bobrovsky. Stone followed up and put in a forehand shot from the top of the crease.
Florida(29-18-6) evened it up on a power-play goal with 3:38 left in the first. Jonathan Huberdeau advanced the puck from slot area to Vincent Trocheck to the left of the crease. He found Mike Hoffman with a cross-ice pass to the right circle and he one-timed a shot into a half-empty net past Marc-Andre Fleury. It was the 20th goal of the season for Hoffman as he reached the 20-goal plateau for the sixth straight season.
In the second period, the Golden Knights reclaimed the lead 1:41 in. Nate Schmidt had a Florida shot bounce off of him in the defensive zone. Stone carried the puck out of the zone, through center ice and into the Panthers zone then snapped a shot from the low slot for his second tally of the game.
The Panthers were awarded a penalty at the 6:40 mark when Brett Connolly was tripped when attempting a shot on goal. He tried a wrist shot on the free opportunity and Fleury made a shoulder save.
The Cats tied up the contest with 8:08 remaining in the frame. Vincent Trocheck dashed through the right circle and around the cage for a wraparound shot for his eighth goal of the campaign. Huberdeau was credited with an assist on the play.
It took 26 seconds for Vegas to make it 3-2. Max Pacioretty tapped in a shot from the blue paint for his 22nd goal on a feed from Stone.
The Golden Knights increased it to a two-goal margin 17 seconds into the third period. Nate Schmidt fired a high wrist shot from the right point off a pass from Paul Stastny.
Vegas added another tally with a shorthanded goal at 4:11 for a 5-2 lead. Shea Theodore skated with the puck from the neutral zone to the high slot and scored on a snap shot.
It became 6-2 for the Golden Knights at the 8:53 mark with the man advantage. Pacioretty made a cross-ice pass from the left wing. Stone tipped the puck to his left and former Panther Jonathan Marchessault smacked a one-time slap shot from the high slot. Sam Montembeault replaced Bobrovsky in net after that goal.
The rout continued for Vegas with 4:54 to go and they made it 7-2. Riley Stillman gave the puck away to Stephenson on the right wing and he centered it to Stone in the slot. Stone angled a pass to his left and Pacioretty got his second tally of the game and 23rd of the season on a forehand shot. Stone compiled his fifth point of the contest on that play and became the first player in Vegas Golden Knights franchise history to accomplish that feat.
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