Panthers rally in Las Vegas, but late turnovers end Florida’s seven-game point streak
Another Florida Panthers comeback was almost complete. The Vegas Golden Knights’ two-goal lead was gone after a power-play goal by Sam Reinhart with 7:34 left and the Panthers were in position to at least pick up one point in their third straight road game.
A little more than a minute later, the comeback was wasted. Sam Bennett slipped near the blue line and lost the puck. The Golden Knights got a breakaway and made Florida pay. For the first time on this seven-game road trip, the Panthers failed to pick up a point with a 5-3 loss in Las Vegas.
It was also the end of a seven-game point streak for Florida, but the Panthers still sit atop the Eastern Conference standings, albeit with one more game played than the second-place Carolina Hurricanes.
Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy scored the game-winning goal with 6:37 left when he beat goaltender Spencer Knight in transition and Florida (41-14-6) couldn’t put together a second comeback, especially after it went back on the penalty kill immediately after the goal because winger Anthony Duclair picked up a game-misconduct penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The penalty gave the Panthers 4:37 to realistically force overtime and they ran out of time, despite a 36-30 edge in shots on goal.
Especially for the first two periods, it was an end-to-end game with two of the NHL’s most dangerous rush teams putting on a show for the 18,265 inside T-Mobile Arena. In the first period, Florida and Vegas (33-26-4) combined for 30 shots on goal, 26 scoring chances and 16 high-danger chances. In the second, they combined for 28 chances and 12 high-danger looks. The Panthers scored first in the first period when forward Carter Verhaeghe put home his own rebound after a pinpoint pass from center Eetu Luostarinen and the Golden Knights answered with three straight goals, including one on a power play to take a 3-1 lead with 5:28 left in the second period.
Forward Sam Bennett cut Vegas’ lead to 3-2 when he knocked in a loose puck with 2:22 left in the third to put Florida well within striking distance to go for a second straight road win.
A few moments before Bennett started the comeback, star defenseman Aaron Ekblad slammed his stick against the ice and groused to a nearby official about a penalty he thought was missed. The Panthers hadn’t had a power play yet and wouldn’t get one until a little more than eight minutes were left in the third period. Ekblad took advantage.
On Florida’s second entry into the offensive zone, Ekblad fired a shot from the point and Reinhart deflected it past Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson to tie the game at 3-3.
Giveaways and penalties were costly for the Panthers all throughout the game, though, and they bit them again in the final seven minutes. First, Bennett’s unforced error let the Golden Knights go ahead for good in the final seven minutes and then another turnover with about two minutes left let Vegas scored an empty-net goal to finally put away Florida.
The Panthers had 10 giveaways and 16 penalty minutes. The Golden Knights only had five and two.
.JPG "PanthersGoldenKnightsHockey (1).JPG")
Up next
Florida continues its seven-game road trip Friday with the second game of a back-to-back against the Anaheim Ducks at 10 p.m. at the Honda Center. It’ll be the first meeting between the Panthers and Ducks (27-25-11) since 2020.
Florida has several availability questions heading into the game, including in goal. Knight has started three straight games as star goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has dealt with an illness. Typically, interim coach Andrew Brunette would like to start a different goalie on each end of the back-to-back set.
Right wing Patric Hornqvist also could be sidelined after he sustained an apparent left arm injury in the second period and did not return. Brunette doesn’t expect it to be a long-term concern, but it could keep him out Friday.
“He’s gonna be okay, it’s just gonna be a little sore, so we’ll reevaluate him here,” the coach said. “We’ve just got to see where this is and we’ll make a decision or we’ll have better information by the morning.”
Although Florida will have three more road games after this weekend, the Panthers will return to South Florida after the game in Anaheim with five days off before their next game.
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 1:17 AM.
