The Vegas Golden Knights dropped their 2nd game in a row played in the state of Florida, and were defeated by an aggressive Panthers squad that made the most of their opportunities, and straight up overwhelmed the away team for most of the afternoon. Florida set the tone early by outshooting Vegas 20 to 3 in the first period, and secured a 4-2 victory on the heels of two big power play goals in the final period.
Despite getting dominated early on by Florida, Vegas actually got on the board first when Mark Stone found the back of the net 1:21 into the 2nd period.
Sam Bennett responded for the Panthers nearly 8 minutes later to tie things at 1-1, and Gustav Forsling picked up his 4th goal of the season nearly 8 minutes after that. It looked like the Panthers would enter the final frame with a one-goal lead, but Pavel Dorofeyev recorded his 3rd goal of the season with seconds remaining in the period.
After 40 minutes of play the game was tied 2-2, and the Panthers had a 34-16 advantage in shots on goal. Just minutes before the halfway point of the 3rd period the Panthers went on the power play, and Carter Verhaeghe picked up his 16th goal of the season. Unfortunately the Golden Knights took another penalty shortly after surrendering a goal, and the Panthers capitalized again when Sam Reinhart scored his 19th of the season.
Overall, here’s some stats of note from NHL dot com, and one thing that stands out is special teams in which the Golden Knights when 0 for 2 on the power play, whereas Florida went 2 for 6.
Here’s a breakdown of how things looked via MoneyPuck’s expected goals model which shows how much of a gap there was for most of the game.
Jiri Patera made his 2nd start in a row for Vegas, and stopped 38 of 42 shots faced, including 13 of 15 faced while the Golden Knights were shorthanded. That onslaught of shots is something the Golden Knights can prevent by playing more disciplined, and by possessing the puck more overall.
The Golden Knights will look to use the holiday break as a chance to rest, reset, and regroup having lost three in a row and posting a record of 5-4-1 in the last 10 games played. Despite this drought, Vegas currently sits 2nd in the league 47 points, and 2nd in the Pacific Division behind the Canucks who have 47 points in one fewer game as of this time of publishing. Vegas will return to action on the road vs. the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, December 27th.