Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press
Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson (71) attempts to shoot at Florida Panthers goaltender James Reimer (34) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019, in Sunrise, Fla.
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019 | 7:38 p.m.
SUNRISE, Fla. — Mike Hoffman's third-period goal put Florida ahead to stay and the Panthers defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1 Saturday night.
Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist and Frank Vatrano also scored a goal for the Panthers, who won for the fourth time in five games. James Reimer made 34 saves.
Max Pacioretty scored for the Golden Knights, and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 22 shots.
Vegas lost its fourth straight game for the first time in its short franchise history.
Hoffman broke a 1-1 tie when he grabbed a loose puck along the boards on the right side, skated in, and slid the puck between Fleury's pads with 13:47 left in the third. Hoffman leads the Panthers with 24 goals.
Vatrano's empty-net goal with 1:16 left stretched the lead to 3-1.
Barkov put the Panthers ahead 1-0 just 12 seconds in. Barkov grabbed a loose puck at center ice and fired it past Fleury.
Barkov's goal missed the franchise record for fastest goal by two seconds. That record is shared by Johan Garpenlov (Oct. 17, 1996) and Barkov (April 5, 2016.)
Vegas tied it at 1-all on Pacioretty's goal. He punched in a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle at 8:07 of the first.
Evgenii Dadonov was awarded a penalty shot after he was tripped by Brayden McNabb at 57.9 of the first, but his shot went off the thigh of Fleury and hit the crossbar.
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