Golden Knights deliver in 4-1 win against Panthers

The Vegas Golden Knights kicked off their three-game homestand with a 4-1 win against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena.

The Golden Knights got off to a slow start, but Adin Hill made a number of critical saves to weather the storm before Vegas found its game. Brayden McNabb and Tanner Pearson gave Vegas a 2-0 lead going into the third. Anton Lundell brought Florida within one early in the third, but Jack Eichel scored the insurance marker to make it 3-1 at 11:31. Tomas Hertl later scored an empty-net goal to seal the win.

Hill had to be sharp early, and he stood tall for the Golden Knights, who struggled out of the gate. Florida had nine shot attempts in the first 3:04, including a particularly dangerous chance for Sam Reinhart that Hill shut down just 33 seconds in.

Vegas was fortunate to not be trailing 3-0, but Hill made timely saves to keep his team afloat.

It took five minutes, but the Golden Knights eventually settled in. McNabb marked the occasion with his third goal of the year at 5:28 of the opening frame.

It had been all Florida, but McNabb’s opportunistic rocket reversed the momentum. He later delivered a massive hit on Reinhart, making his presence felt early.

Hill turned aside all 11 shots he faced to help the Golden Knights retain their 1-0 lead through 20 minutes.

Pearson scored almost exactly one period after McNabb, beating netminder Spencer Knight from a bad angle at 5:40 of the second. In order to set up the play, Nicolas Roy got decked in the slot, but Pearson toe-dragged around him before picking his spot.

Bruce Cassidy split up Vegas’ top line, which hadn’t been overly effective up until that point. Moving Alexander Holtz up to play with Eichel led to a great shift and ultimately a power play, though Vegas didn’t cash in. Hertl did get a rare breakaway on the man-advantage, but Knight stayed with him to deny the chance.

Cassidy explained after the game that he put Mark Stone with Brett Howden and Jonas Rondbjerg since both players were well-rested, which allowed Cassidy to use them — along with Stone — against the Aleksander Barkov line.

The Golden Knights killed off a penalty later in the period to prevent Florida from cutting the deficit. Hill was excellent throughout the period once again, which allowed Vegas to carry a 2-0 lead into the final frame.

Lundell cut into that lead less than two minutes into the third, however. Lundell got in behind Zach Whitecloud and Nic Hague to deflect a point shot, making it a one-goal game.

At 2-1, the Golden Knights came up with another important penalty kill.

Following another big stop by Hill, Eichel showed off his hands to restore the Golden Knights’ two-goal lead at 11:31.

It was a huge goal for the home team in a tightly-contested battle. Holtz, Eichel’s newest linemate, started the play by setting up Ivan Barbashev, who hit Eichel for the breakaway.

The Golden Knights came up with another penalty kill, and Vegas then contained the Panthers’ push at 6-on-5, with Hertl hitting the empty net with 29 seconds remaining for the 4-1 win. Hertl’s 18th of the year extended his point streak to nine games (seven goals, 13 points).

In the end, the Golden Knights never trailed. They held on to leads and got the next goal when they needed to, coming away with a much-needed two points to improve to 31-15-4 on the year.

The Golden Knights did not score on their two opportunities on the power play, snapping an eight-game streak. Significantly, however, they scored three goals at 5-on-5, which has been a glaring weakness for Vegas throughout its recent slump.

It also was a strong bounceback performance by Hill, who had surrendered 11 goals in his previous three starts, going winless in that stretch (0-2-1).

Hill finished Sunday’s game with 31 saves on 32 shots for a .969 save percentage in his 19th win of the season, which ties his career high. He bailed out his team early, as the Panthers generated multiple high-danger chances right off the bat.

Though he still had to make a number of key stops, Hill had more help as the game wore on, as the Golden Knights cleaned up their game in front of the net. There was a drastic difference in Vegas’ defensive structure compared to recent games, which was another key aspect of the win.

Depth scoring was another notable factor.

Over the last few weeks, the majority of Vegas’ offense has come from the top of the lineup, i.e., Eichel, Stone, Hertl, Pavel Dorofeyev and Shea Theodore. Getting goals from McNabb and Pearson was a key deviation from the norm. Plus, Roy tallied three assists, Keegan Kolesar chipped in two helpers and McNabb added an assist for a two-point night.

Cassidy’s tweak to the lines in the second period made a difference as well.

Florida was skating in the second half of a back-to-back, and it was another instance in which Vegas went up against a backup goalie. That being said, it was a solid all-around win in which the Golden Knights corrected many of the problems that have been ailing them.

The Golden Knights will face Dallas on Tuesday and Columbus on Thursday before hitting the East Coast for four games leading up to the break for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.