Blog: Golden Knights end road trip in style, eviscerate Panthers

It’s hard to lose when a team’s best player has his best game of the year.

Vegas wasn’t losing Thursday night with the way Mark Stone played at the BB&T Center. Stone did everything as the Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers 7-2.

He got scoring started 2:15 into the game by getting out on an odd-man rush after an entry pass from Shea Theodore and putting through a rebound after a Chandler Stephenson miss.  

“That’s something Stone is good at, driving the net — and he’s good at finishing those chances,” Shea Theodore said in a radio interview during the first intermission.

Stone would only get better. He contributed to both of the Golden Knights’ second-period goals, first beating Sergei Bobrovsky over the shoulder and then setting up Max Pacioretty in front of the net with a rope of a pass.

Florida hung around for a while — Max Hoffman and Vincent Trocheck scored to goals to tie the game at 1 and 2, respectively — but Vegas eventually pulled away.

The Golden Knights were up 3-2 going into the third period, and then got goals from a pair of defensemen, Shea Theodore and Nate Schmidt, from the blue line in the opening five minutes. Jonathan Marchessault later added a power-play goal before Pacioretty joined Stone with a second goal to cap off the scoring. 

Stay tuned to lasvegassun.com for more coverage later.

Golden Knights lead Panthers 3-2

The Golden Knights and Panthers lived up to their reputations as explosive offensive teams in the second period. They combined for 29 shots on goal, many of them decent looks and three of them winding up successful.

Mark Stone scored his second goal of the night less than two minutes into the period, and then assisted on a Max Pacioretty goal 10 minutes later. It wasn’t all good news as Florida got on the board when Vincent Trocheck scored on a wraparound to tie the game at 2-2 in between Vegas’ two goals.

It could have been worse, though. Brett Connolly received a penalty shot after a penalty on William Carrier, but Fleury knocked it away with his stick.

Game tied at 1 after first period

Mark Stone played a key role in each of the two first-period goals at the BB&T Center.

The Golden Knights’ star put his team up 1-0 early when he beat Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky off of a rebound. Vegas couldn’t get into the locker room with an advantage, though, after Stone took a hooking penalty that led to Florida getting a power-play score.

Florida put a high volume of shots on Marc-Andre Fleury, and got one to go through when Mike Hoffman slapped a puck passed from Jonathan Huberdeau through.

The Panthers had 13 shots on goal in the first period to the Golden Knights’ 7.  

Pregame

An eight-game, 24-day expedition that spanned the eastern seaboard and transformed the future of the Vegas Golden Knights ends tonight.

The overall success of the journey largely hinges upon how the Golden Knights fare against the Florida Panthers in a game that starts at 4 p.m. at the BB&T Center. Vegas sits at 3-3-1 since its last home game, though one loss is a holdover from when the Golden Knights were practically a different team.

The 4-2 trip-opening defeat at the Buffalo Sabres, of course, was the final game behind the bench for coach Gerard Gallant, who was fired in the aftermath of a four-game losing streak and replaced by Peter DeBoer. A coaching change often jolts a team, and the Golden Knights have certainly shown some signs of improvement under DeBoer.

Two of their three losses under him have come by a single goal — against Boston and Montreal — with the third coming against Tampa Bay on Tuesday in a game in which Vegas played well against arguably the best team in the NHL. But if they lose tonight, there’s a chance the Golden Knights could sit in fifth place in the Pacific Division — exactly the spot that led to Gallant’s firing.

If they win, they could wind up in second — an improvement from when they left Las Vegas before their bye week and All-Star break. The Golden Knights have never won at the BB&T Center, however, and this year’s Panthers look better than versions of the last two seasons.

Like the Golden Knights, they’re quick and balanced. Florida is tied for third in goals in the NHL with 188. They have seven players who have scored at least 14 goals.

Florida is much more susceptible defensively, as the major offseason acquisition of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky hasn’t repaired systemic weakness for sacrificing scoring chances. Vegas will need to capitalize on that if it wants to return home on a high note.

“It’s been a long road trip so this is an important one," forward Reilly Smith said. "It will be good to head home on a good note.”

TV: AT&T Sports Net (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-115, Panthers plus-105; over/under: 6 (minus-125, plus-105)

Golden Knights (27-21-7, 61 points) (13-11-4 road), third place, Pacific Division

Coach: Peter DeBoer (first season)

Points leader: Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone (48)

Goals leader: Max Pacioretty, Reilly Smith (21)

Assists leader: Mark Stone (30)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (2.79 GAA, .907 save percentage)

Panthers (29-17-6, 64 points) (16-8-2 home), third place, Atlantic Division;

Coach: Joel Quenneville (first season)

Points leader: Jonathan Huberdeau (66)

Goals leader: Evgenii Dadonov (23)

Assists leader: Jonathan Huberdeau (47)

Expected goalie: Sergei Bobrovsky (3.19 GAA, .901 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault—Paul Stastny—Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty—Chandler Stephenson—Mark Stone

William Carrier—Cody Eakin—Alex Tuch

Tomas Nosek—Nicolas Roy—Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb—Nate Schmidt

Nick Holden—Shea Theodore

Jon Merrill—Zach Whitecloud

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.