The Vegas Golden Knights (7-4-4) extended their losing streak to three games after coming up short in a 3-2 loss against the Florida Panthers (8-7-1) Monday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The Panthers completed the sweep of the season series, scoring one goal in each period, including one on their only shot of the third.
The Golden Knights are now 1-3-1 on this six-game homestand.
Notably, William Karlsson did not play and is considered day-to-day after leaving Saturday’s game early with a lower-body injury.
Florida led 2-0 through two periods thanks to goals from Jesper Boqvist and Brad Marchand in the first and second frames, respectively.
Boqvist opened the scoring at 14:47 on a deep shot that beat Carl Lindbom, who was unable to reset after fighting through traffic to get back into the crease.
Mitch Marner had a glorious chance on what would have been a highlight-reel goal near the end of the period but missed the net.
Sergei Bobrovsky, who shut out Vegas when these teams met in Sunrise last month, turned aside all 13 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes, and he proceeded to stop all seven in the middle frame. For the third game in a row, the Golden Knights were outshot (9-7) and outscored (1-0) in the second period, though it wasn’t as one-sided as it was against Tampa Bay and Anaheim.
Even so, it was the team’s worst period of the night, particularly given a glaring missed opportunity.
Just over six minutes into the second, the Golden Knights had an extended 5-on-3 power play for 1:11, but the struggling man-advantage was unable to convert. It was such a horrendous display that the Vegas faithful booed the Golden Knights for their efforts.
The penalty kill, however, went 2-for-2 in the second period, getting a little assistance from Marchand, who missed a wide-open net.
However, Marchand scored the only goal of the frame to give the Panthers a 2-0 edge at 10:54. It was an elite play all-around, as the former Bruin deked around Kaedan Korczak to cut to the middle of the ice and then roofed a backhand over Lindbom’s glove, extending his point streak to eight games.
Lindbom made a fantastic backdoor save in the waning seconds of the period on a 2-on-1, keeping his team in the game going into the third.
If the second period was Vegas’ worst, the third was by far its best.
Tomas Hertl finally got Vegas on the board just 1:25 into the final frame. Bobrovsky saved Shea Theodore’s initial shot, but Hertl put home the rebound to cut the deficit to one. It was a rare point from the blue line, but a smart play by Theodore and a strong finish by Hertl helped give the Golden Knights some life.
Just 61 seconds later, Jeff Petry was called for interference, setting up a power play for the Golden Knights to reset the score.
Instead, the Golden Knights lost momentum. Not only did they not generate a shot on goal, but Alexander Holtz took a high-sticking penalty before it expired.
The Panthers needed just one shot on the man-advantage to capitalize, as Sam Reinhart’s deflection goal restored Florida’s two-goal lead at 4:54.
But the Golden Knights didn’t quit, and the red-hot Ivan Barbashev potted his seventh of the year at 9:04, beating Bobrovsky top-shelf from the right circle to bring Vegas within one.
The Golden Knights continued to push, holding Florida without another shot for the rest of the game, but were unable to net the equalizer. They had two decent looks with the goalie pulled, and Marner made an outstanding play to prevent the Panthers from cashing in on the empty net, but it wasn’t enough to climb out of the hole.
In the end, the Golden Knights led 2-1 in goals in the third period and outshot the Panthers 12-1 overall and 10-0 at 5-on-5. But it was that single shot on the power play that proved to be the game-winner for the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
“We picked ourselves up on the first shift of the third,” Bruce Cassidy said. “We scored early, so now you’ve got a little momentum. Unfortunately, [Florida] had one shot in the third period and it went in. That ends up being the difference in the game.”
The lack of depth scoring continues to be an issue for the Golden Knights.
When asked, Cassidy said the Golden Knights could use more production from throughout the lineup “to garner a few more points here and there.” He discussed Reilly Smith, Brandon Saad and Colton Sissons and also mentioned the blue line. “In these one-goal games, you need it from somebody,” he said. “It’s 15 games now, so, yes, we need a little more from them, especially when guys go out [with injuries].”
However, Cassidy said he was pleased with the defense’s mobility in the offensive zone tonight. “We’ve encouraged them to be a little more active without being reckless,” he said. “I think they have; they’ve done a good job.”
But at the end of the day, it was the power play that truly cost the Golden Knights against Florida.
That has been a common theme in the wake of Mark Stone’s injury.
With the captain in the lineup, the Golden Knights went 9-for-24 on the power play for a conversion rate of 37.5 percent. Since his injury, the team is clicking at just 10.3 percent, scoring three goals on 29 opportunities.
It was especially evident tonight with the 5-on-3 at 1-0 in the second and the momentum-killer at 2-1 in the third. The Golden Knights finished the game 0-for-3.
“The first period, I didn’t mind,” Cassidy said. “I thought each team had some chances. The second period, again, we’re probably on the wrong side of the momentum to truly get going. But again, not to the point where we were caved in. The goal [Marchand] scored was a great individual effort.
“Where we failed was on our power play. We could have gotten momentum off that. It’s 5-on-3 for a full minute, so we should have been better than what we generated. So that’s [what] I’d say was a letdown for us in the game.”
Lindbom gave his team a chance to win, as he has done in most of his starts this season despite remaining winless. He finished the game with 17 saves on 20 shots for an .850 save percentage.
The Golden Knights will wrap up what has been an eye-opening six-game homestand Thursday against the New York Islanders.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.