The Vegas Golden Knights made it clear the Stanley Cup could be an absolute whitewash as they didn’t juts beat but rather dismantled the Florida Panthers in Ga me 2.
The hosts stormed into a 2-0 series led with a 7-2 victory Monday night, asserting their dominance across the ice.
Even more physicality than in Game 1 couldn’t put them off their game.
A brutal hit from Matthew Tkachuk sent Knights forward Jack Eichel to the dressing room.
Eichel left late in the second period on Monday night after sustaining an apparent right shoulder injury following the hard check by the Florida Panthers forward.
The Golden Knight stormed into a 2-0 series led with a 7-2 victory over the Panthers
Even more physicality than in Game 1 couldn’t put the hosts off their game on Monday
A brutal hit from Matthew Tkachuk sent Knights forward Jack Eichel to the dressing room
Eichel was skating out of his own zone when Tkachuk made a hard shoulder-to-shoulder hit near the line that knocked Eichel onto his back and also sent his helmet flying.
Eichel, who assisted on a goal by Jonathan Marchessault in the first period, got up and immediately skated to the locker room while grimacing in pain.
The assist was Eichel’s 15th in the 2023 postseason, the top total among all players. Eichel also has six goals in 19 playoff games this year after he logged 27 goals and 39 assists in 67 regular-season games.
But the Knights didn’t let the loss halt their crusade as they continued to put the Panthers on ice.
Jonathan Marchessault scored twice and started an early blitz that chased the NHL’s hottest postseason goalie, and the Vegas Golden Knights seized control.
Adin Hill continued his stellar play in net with 29 saves for the Golden Knights, who grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
‘We finished some plays,’ Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. ‘It´s a good performance for us. Our guys were ready to play.’
Marchessault also had an assist to finish with three points. His 12 postseason goals set a Golden Knights record, with all coming after the first round.
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 Panthers goalie Sergei 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.
‘We can be a little better in front of our goaltender,’ Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. ‘I got him out to keep him rested.’
Tkachuk and Anton Lundell scored for Florida.
Teams that take a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final are 31-3 in the expansion era. The Panthers will try to buck history beginning with Game 3 on Thursday in Sunrise, Florida.
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.’
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 defenseman 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 defenseman 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.’