Vegas will have a chance to play for the Stanley Cup when they host Game 5 on Tuesday.
It’s officially ‘backs against the wall’ time.
Fortunately for the Florida Panthers, it’s an area they have done well during the playoffs.
The Vegas Golden Knights jumped out to a 3-0 lead in Game 4 on Sunday and held on for dear life at the end following a strong comeback effort by Florida.
Now the teams will fly back to Las Vegas for a game that one of two things will happen.
Either the Panthers find a way to pick up the victory and force the series back to South Florida, or Vegas will win the Stanley Cup.
“We’ve just gotta go out there and win one game,” Matthew Tkachuk said afterwards.
Tkachuk’s status for Game 5 will be something that will likely be a major topic in the coming days.
He appeared to be laboring throughout the game, but during the third period Tkachuk spent the majority of the frame on the Panthers bench.
He came into the game for a couple shifts in the final minutes as Florida tried to tie the game, but it was clear he wasn’t nearly at his normal operating level.
The good thing for Tkachuk and the Panthers is that there will be two days between games, so there will some extra time for healing.
FIRST PERIOD
Vegas started the game with a strong couple shifts, putting three shots on Sergei Bobrovsky in the first minute.
In the second minute, Chandler Stephenson got loose on a breakaway as Florida was changing defensemen and put the puck between Bobrovsky’s legs to give the Golden Knights an early 1-0.
Bobrovsky came up with a huge save on Ivan Barbashev when Jack Eichel found him alone in the slot with 12:40 on the clock.
Hill then made a great reflex save with his left skate on a quick wraparound attempt by Carter Verhaeghe.
Shortly after, Bob came out and challenged Alec Martinez, stopping his shot after the Vegas rearguard made a nice move to get in alone on the goaltender.
Overall, both teams traded chances for much of the period but they each ended the frame with 12 shots on goal.
The Golden Knights went into the locker room with a 1-0 lead where it counted.
SECOND PERIOD
Florida’s first couple shifts spent some good time in the Vegas zone early in the second.
Bob made a big stop came on Stephenson after he found some space inside the left circle around 2:18 into the period.
The first penalty of the game came at the 2:52 mark when Marc Staal got his stick in the skates of Mark Stone moments after Stone had knocked the stick out of Staal’s hands, which went uncalled.
Florida picked up right where they left off in Game 3 with another solid penalty kill, allowing the Golden Knights zero shots on limited zone time.
Stephenson made it 2-0 Vegas on a one-timer from the high slot that flew over Bobrovsky’s glove at the 12:32 mark of the period.
Two goals for the Knights, two primary assists for Mark Stone.
A blocked Nick Hague shot bounced right to William Karlsson at the side of the net, and he deposited the puck into an empty cage to give Vegas a 3-0 lead about three and a half minutes later.
It was nearly 4-0 a couple minutes after that when Jonathan Marchessault rang the crossbar over Bob’s right shoulder after stepping into a one-timer.
Florida finally got some puck luck when a Brandon Montour wrist shot bounced off Brayden McNabb and Martinez before rolling into the net behind Hill.
The Golden Knights’ lead was trimmed to 3-1 with 3:51 to go in the second.
During the final minute, a deflected Marchessault shot hit Eichel right in the neck, and he got up and skated straight to the Vegas locker room.
The period ended with the visitors outshooting the home team 11-7 and leading by two after two.
THIRD PERIOD
Florida was pushing early in the third, as they well should have been.
A big issue for the Cats came in the form of an apparent Tkachuk injury.
He skated two shifts in the first 3:50 of the period before not taking the ice again for over 11 minutes of game time.
Eichel, meanwhile, emerged from the Vegas locker room and appeared to be fine as he resumed playing without any apparent issue.
Ryan Lomberg had a great look from the slot but his spinning backhand went just wide of the far post.
Barkov netted his first goal of the series 3:50 into the period, popping home a nice cross-ice feed from Montour and beating Hill to make it 3-2.
Eichel got a shot off from down low between the circles off a great feed by Barbashev but Bobrovsky swallowed it up and offered no rebound.
Lundell, who was having perhaps his best game of the playoffs, cut to the net from the corner with the puck but his backhand was partially blocked on its way to Hill.
Bobrovsky kept the Panthers in the game with a pair of saves on Marchessault and Barbashev following back-to-back misplays by Gudas with under three minutes to go.
Florida put on some furious pressure for the remainder of the game with Bob on the bench, but as has been the case for much of the series, the Cats couldn’t get a puck past Hill.
The Panthers were given a 6-on-4 power play for the final 17 seconds following a delay of game call on Alex Pietrangelo, but by then it was too little too late.
Both teams will head back to Vegas for Game 5, with the Golden Knights having an opportunity to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.
GAME NOTES
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