Golden Knights Down Panthers

     The Florida Panthers completed their four-game, West Coast road trip with a 4-1 defeat to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena. It was a rematch of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final between both teams. The Cats will begin a homestand on Wednesday.

     Vegas(31-15-4) collected the first two goals of the contest for a 2-0 lead. Brandon McNabb scored at the 5:26 mark of the opening period on a one-time slap shot from the left point past Spencer Knight.         

     The Golden Nuggets had a 2-0 advantage at 5:40 of the second period. Tanner Pearson snapped a shot from the right circle for his ninth goal of the campaign. 

     Florida(29-19-3) closed it to a 2-1 lead in the final period at the 1:56 mark. Uvis Balinskis zipped a pass from the left wing. Eetu Luostarinen released a shot from the left point and Anton Lundell redirected a shot from the crease area for his 12th goal of the season. 

     It became 3-1 for the Golden Knights with 8:29 to go in the third when Jack Eichel put in a forehand shot on a breakaway from the right side of the crease. Tomas Hertl extended his point streak to nine games as he added an empty-net goal with 28.5 seconds left in the contest to make it 5-1.