Surging Panthers continue to thrive against Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights have been the perfect elixir to what had been ailing the Panthers.

Coming off a 2-3 road trip last month, the Panthers got back on track with a win against the Knights in Sunrise on Dec. 23.

On Thursday night, Florida extended its winning streak to six games, beating the defending Stanley Cup champions 4-1 as it won in Las Vegas for the first time in franchise history.

After losing in the Stanley Cup Final to the Golden Knights last summer, the Panthers perked up when they came to town before Christmas and have not slowed since.

“There is no secret, we don’t like these guys for what happened last year,” said Matthew Tkachuk, who was injured in Game 3 of the Final and could not play in Game 5 where Vegas won it all.

“That is human nature, especially coming into this building where our team has not had success. We just really wanted to beat the team which ruined our summer. I think the two games we played them were two of our best of this season.”

Since winning two of five on their previous western road trip, the Panthers have beaten Vegas twice, Tampa Bay, the New York Rangers, Montreal, and Arizona for their longest winning streak of the season.

This one, however, is one the Panthers will remember for some time.

“It was one of my favorite games of the year,” coach Paul Maurice said.

One of the big keys for the Panthers has been the play of their penalty kill, something which could have turned things in Vegas’ favor on Thursday.

With captain Aleksander Barkov leaving the game in the first period after taking an inadvertent elbow to the face from Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez, the Panthers were down not only a key player but perhaps their best penalty killer.

Yet Florida killed off three penalties to open the second period in a 1-1 game — including two extended 5-on-3 chances for the Golden Knights — and turned the game in its direction.

The Panthers scored three power play goals in the game, including the eventual game-winner from Tkachuk at 6:15 of the second.

With Sergei Bobrovsky making 26 saves, Florida killed all six of Vegas’ power plays.

Florida, meanwhile, went 3-for-6 as Sam Bennett, Tkachuk, and Sam Reinhart all scored with the man advantage.

Carter Verhaeghe got his 20th goal with 1:21 remaining in the second to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead.

Reinhart, named to his first NHL All-Star Game earlier in the day, leads the league with 12 power-play goals.

“We had some injuries early, some guys stepped up and played some big minutes,” Reinhart said after the win. “I liked our effort. We did not give them much. … You don’t want to be without those two guys for long, but this was a big game for some guys to step up.’’

Florida has changed its fortunes on its final western road trip of the season.

The Panthers are now 2-0 on this trip after kicking things off with a 4-1 win at Arizona on Tuesday night.

Florida will visit Colorado on Saturday afternoon in a showdown between two top teams in the NHL before wrapping things up Tuesday in St. Louis.

The Avalanche is currently tied with the Rangers for the league lead with 53 points; Florida is in sixth with 50.

The Panthers definitely have some momentum behind them.

“We beat a good team in a really tough building to get a win,” Bobrovsky said.

Maurice did not have an update on the status of Barkov or forward Evan Rodrigues, who also left the game in the first period.

Rodrigues went down after blocking a shot early in the period but briefly returned; he did not come out for the second.

Barkov took an elbow from Martinez while tracking down a puck behind the Vegas net.

Maurice said both would be checked by medical personnel in Las Vegas on Friday.

“They need to get looked at by someone smarter than me,” Maurice said.