SUNRISE – The Florida Panthers are right back in their chase for the Stanley Cup Final after a come from behind, 3-2, overtime victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. However, as much as the Panthers have to celebrate with their comeback win, they still trail the best-of-seven series 2-1 and are aware of the importance of following it up with another victory when they host Game 4 on Saturday.
“That’s a big momentum game for us,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, whose late third-period goal forced overtime, told Sportsnet. “Now we’ve just got to win one more game.”
unloaded a long shot from just inside the blue line that found the mark at 4:27 of overtime to cap a back-and-forth affair. It was his seventh of the playoffs and his fourth career overtime winner.
“We had to find a way,” said Verhaeghe, who added an assist.
With his team on the verge of falling behind 3-0 in the series, Tkachuk — who missed most of the first period because the concussion spotter pulled him from the game after the forward was on the receiving end of a hard check — scored yet another clutch goal.
Tkachuk buried a loose puck with 2:13 remaining in regulation while goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled for an extra attacker.
“Probably the gutsiest win I’ve ever been a part of,” said Tkachuk, who notched a franchise-record 11th goal of the playoffs and added an assist. “Proud of the team. We’re not done yet.”
Brandon Montour also scored for the Panthers and Bobrovsky made 25 shots in a strong performance. Bobrovsky’s biggest stop came on a third-period attempt from Michael Amadio while Vegas held a 2-1 lead.
The Panthers recorded their first ever Stanley Cup Final win. They were swept in their only other appearance, 1996 against the Colorado Avalanche.