The Panthers earned a resounding victory on Saturday night, taking down the Vegas Golden Knights in Sunrise.
The Florida Panthers welcomed the Vegas Golden Knights to Sunrise on Saturday for a rematch of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.
Florida played an extremely strong, defensive game, keeping the potent Golden Knights at bay for much of the evening and skating to a 3-0 victory at Amreant Bank Arena.
It wasn’t until late in the opening period that Florida got the scoring started.
Carter Verhaeghe hit Sam Reinhart with a great pass as he crossed into the Vegas zone, and Reinhart quickly cut to the net, went backhand-forehand and fired a shot past the blocker of Akria Schmid to give the Cats a 1-0 lead with 2:41 left in the first.
Florida did well to limit the Golden Knights’ offensive opportunities during much of the first 40 minutes, holding Vegas to just 12 shots on 34 attempts.
One of the newest members of the Panthers found the back of the net early in the third period to double Florida’s lead.
Cole Schwindt pounced on a loose puck as several players jammed at the Vegas net, firing it into an empty net from the side of the crease to make it 2-0 Panthers 3:29 into the final frame.
But the Cats weren’t done there.
About six and a half minutes later, A.J. Greer picked up a Brad Marchand rebound and wrapped it around the Vegas net, beating Akira Schmid to the far post and putting the Cats up 3-0.
That would be more than enough for Sergei Bobrovsky.
He finished with 17 saves en route to his first shutout of the season, 17th as a Panther and 50th of his NHL career.
The win gets the Cats back to .500 at 5-5-0.
On to the Ducks.
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Photo caption: Oct 19, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) makes a save as defenseman Aaron Ekblad (5) and Vegas Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl (48) battle for position during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Jim Rassol-Imagn Images)