Golden Knight depth overwhelms Panthers in Game 2 victory

The Vegas Golden Knights are two wins away from winning the Stanley Cup, following a convincing 7-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on Monday.

Jonathan Marchessault and Brett Howden each had two goals. Alec Martinez, Nicolas Roy, and Michael Amadio also scored. Adin Hill made 29 saves.

"We needed to play our game. We had a good start. We score on the power play, and I thought we did a lot of good things in the first period. Give them credit: I thought they had a little push there in the second,” said Vegas forward Jack Eichel, who had two assists. “They had some opportunities. But once again our goalie made some big, key saves at some key times. Even in the first, I think he did. I thought we were able to manage momentum pretty well tonight, and credit to the group we scored some big goals at timely areas of the game."

Depth proved to be the difference as Vegas’s four forward lines were all able to find the net. In all, 12 Vegas skaters tallied a goal or an assist.

Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy has said on multiple occasions that the team doesn’t need its stars to be stars every night, as the depth and role players will do what’s expected of them and will be rewarded at some point.

So far, that has been the case in the playoffs. Every series, a role player has stepped up at a different time, scoring a big goal or making a timely play. In this case, it supplemented a star’s performance and gave the Golden Knights an easy win.

“We know we have depth. We know we roll four lines. If we get a good forecheck, we’ll get rewarded,” Marchessault said.

Like always, Hill was solid in net. Sure, he’d probably want the two goals have surrendered back, but overall, the Hill story has been one of the dominating tales of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Defense naturally will get credit for making Hill look good, but he made 11 saves on the penalty kill when Florida swarmed on its power play. At some point, Hill will deserve his due.

Now that Vegas is up 2-0, the pressure will be on Florida to push back on its home ice. The Panthers, however, are 4-3 at home this postseason and have always gone back home with at least a split of the first two games.

If anything has been a trend this series in two games, it’s the Panthers will lose its cool if they fall behind in a big way. Matthew Tkachuk has three misconduct penalties this series and there have been a total of 10 misconduct penalties called on Florida this series.

If Vegas continues to frustrate the Panthers like they have in Games 1 and 2, it will be a shorter than expected series.

“Our discipline has been unbelievable. You know what, they want to set the tone with being undisciplined like Game 1 and we set the tone back,” Marchessault said. “it was scoring that first goal there. so it’s all on our honor and we’ve done a great job so far. But we’re still pretty far from our goal here.”

Marchessault has been on a tear since not scoring in the first seven games of the postseason. He now has 12 goals and has 20 points. He’s tallied a point in seven consecutive games and is in the conversation as potential Conn Smythe Trophy winner.

“‘Marchy’s’ been unbelievable for us all year. Has a huge first goal for us tonight on the power play and his one in the third. That’s a big goal for us, too, right?” Hill said. “They make it 4-1. They might start to get some momentum, but next shift, they come out, he puts that in the net. I have to face his shot every day. It’s unbelievable. When he gets in tight, he’s probably one of the hardest guys in the league to stop. There’s a reason why he's scoring.”

The Golden Knights and Panthers will meet for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at FLA Live in Sunrise, Fla., on Thursday.

Vegas leads the best-of-seven series 2-0.