LAS VEGAS (AP) — No team in more than 25 years has been more dominant than the Vegas Golden Knights through the first two games of a Stanley Cup final.
They have outscored the Florida Panthers by eight goals, including Monday night’s 7-2 victory in Game 2 that put the Knights two wins from the first championship in the franchise's six-year history.
It will take a rare rally for the Panthers to come back as the series shifts to Florida for Game 3 on Thursday. Teams that took a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup final are 31-3 in the expansion era, but the Panthers opened the playoffs by storming back from 3-1 down to beat the heavily favoured Boston Bruins.
Florida will have to significantly up its level of play to beat a Vegas team that won by three goals on Saturday and then five in this game. The previous team to win the first two games of the Cup final by at least eight combined goals was the 1996 Colorado Avalanche — who outscored the Panthers by nine.
“I think our depth has been a strength all year,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It is the biggest reason we are still here, why we beat Winnipeg, Edmonton, Dallas. I just feel that we have the best team from player one through 20."
Jonathan Marchessault scored twice for the Knights and started an early blitz that chased Sergei Bobrovsky, the NHL’s hottest post-season goalie.
Marchessault also had an assist to finish with three points. His 12 post-season goals set a Golden Knights record, with all of them coming after the first round. The only player with more following the opening round was Pavel Bure, who scored 13 for the Vancouver Canucks in 1994.
“They want to set the tone with being undisciplined like Game 1 and we set the tone back,” Marchessault said. “It was scoring that first goal there. But we’re still pretty far from our goal here.”
Brett Howden scored twice for the Knights, who also got goals from Alec Martinez, Nicolas Roy and Michael Amadio. Six players had at least two points for Vegas, all 18 Knights skaters were on the ice for even-strength goals and their nine goal scorers through the first two games are a Stanley Cup final record. The Knights' seven goals tied a franchise mark for a playoff game.
It was too much for Bobrovsky, who was removed 7:10 into the second period down 4-0. It was the fifth time in 12 games the Knights have chased the opposing goalie.
Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, carried Florida through the Eastern Conference playoffs. Coming into the Stanley Cup final, he had won 11 of his past 12 starts with a 1.95 goals-against average and .942 save percentage during that stretch. But he's given up eight goals in 87 minutes against Vegas, compiling a 5.52 GAA and .826 save percentage in the series.
“We can be a little better in front of our goaltender,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “I got him out to keep him rested.”
Matthew Tkachuk and Anton Lundell scored for Florida.
Adin Hill continued his stellar play in net with 29 saves for the Knights. Hill once again brought his feistiness as well as his A-game. He stopped Carter Verhaeghe on a breakaway in the first, and later that period hit Tkachuk, who was in his net, with his blocker and then slashed him with his stick.
“He’s been unreal for us,” Vegas forward William Carrier said. “He’s been unbelievable.”
A group of four fans behind one of the nets wore sweaters that spelled out his last name, and Hill has often received the loudest cheers from Knights fans, reminiscent of when Marc-Andre Fleury was in goal for Vegas in its first three seasons.
“It’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had playing hockey," Hill said. “I’m just enjoying it, cherishing every day. It’s been awesome to be part of the journey with this team.”
The Knights were dominant early, taking a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Marchessault and Martinez. It was Vegas’ third game in a row with a power-play goal, its first such stretch since Christmas week.
The Panthers lost their biggest, toughest defenceman early in the game when Radko Gudas was injured on a hit by Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev. Gudas left 6:39 in and did not return.
That was one of several big hits by Barbashev, the Golden Knights’ biggest trade-deadline acquisition, a Stanley Cup champion with St. Louis in 2019. Barbashev broke the sternum of Colorado defenceman Samuel Girard during the playoffs last year, also on a clean hit.
Vegas had its own scare late in the second period when Jack Eichel was nailed in the right shoulder by Tkachuk. Eichel returned in the third and set up Marchessault’s second goal for his second assist of the game.
“We did a good job managing momentum tonight,” Eichel said. “And we got some timely goals.”
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Mark Anderson, The Associated Press
