![]() “That’s an unreal save – it’s a game-changer,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. The save was reminiscent of the one Washington’s Braden Holtby made against Vegas – in the same crease – five years ago. Marchessault – known since arriving in Las Vegas for scoring big goals – answered before the end of the first period.Įarly in the second, Hill made a desperation stick save to rob Nick Cousins of what would have been a sure goal. ![]() The outcome was determined long before that.Īfter falling behind on a short-handed goal by Eric Staal that sucked the life out of the crowd of 18,432, the Golden Knights rallied for their ninth comeback win this playoffs. A handful of penalties resulting from a fracas with 4:24 remaining left the Florida bench well short. Game 2 is Monday in Las Vegas.īefore the Panthers even get a chance to respond, they ratcheted up the physical play late after falling behind by two. We were just trying not to play into it.” “It’s exactly what we expected,” said Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore, who scored his first goal of the playoffs and ended a 27-game drought dating to March 7. The combination of that offense and Hill’s 33 saves put Vegas up after a feisty opener between Sun Belt teams who wasted little time getting acquainted with big hits during play and plenty of post-whistle pushing and shoving. Reilly Smith sealed it with an empty-netter to make the score look more lopsided than the game. Whitecloud put Vegas ahead, a crucial penalty kill followed and captain Mark Stone scored an insurance goal that was reviewed for a high stick and confirmed. “We just wanted to play the right way and be disciplined, and tonight we were able to be the better team.” “We kept out composure, and it was good,” said Marchessault, one of six original Knights players left from the start of the franchise in 2017 who scored the tying goal in the first period. Vegas rallied from an early deficit, got the go-ahead goal from Zach Whitecloud with just over 13 minutes left and arguably the best save of the playoffs from Adin Hill and beat Florida 5-2 Saturday night to take the lead in the best-of-seven series. “We were ready,” Jonathan Marchessault said. LAS VEGAS – Back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in five years and trailing the Florida Panthers less than 10 minutes into Game 1, the Vegas Golden Knights sent a very clear message.
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