The Vegas Golden Knights thrashed the Florida Panthers in Game 2 by 7-2 to take a 2-0 lead and two wins away from claiming the franchise’s first Stanley Cup on Monday at T-Mobile Arena.
Golden Knights scored early and had the clear upper hand in the offense, proving an impressive NHL season.
Nine different goal scorers have scored for the Knights in the final, setting the record for the most by a team in the opening two contests of a final in NHL history. The 12 goals through the opening two games also tie another NHL record.
32-year-old Golden Knights star Jonathan Marchessault, who had formerly played for the Florida Panther, continued his scoring on Monday with a two-goal performance in Game 2. He tallied the opening score of the game for the Golden Knights, burying a shot from the circle for the power-play goal.
He then secured victory for the Golden Knights when he scored his second of the game in the third period.
Though Marchessault did not score in the Golden Knights’ first five postseason games, he now has 12 goals in the team’s last 12 fixtures, setting a franchise record for most in a single postseason. He also extended his point streak to seven straight games to tie for the longest point streak in the playoffs in Golden Knights history.
“I mean part of our game plan, we know we have depth, we know if we roll four lanes and get good forecheck, we’ll get rewarded and topping that off I think our discipline has been unbelievable,” Marchessault said to reporters after the game. “They wanted to set the tone with like, being undisciplined like Game 1 and we set the tone back.
“It was scoring that first goal there, so I think it’s all in our honor and we’ve done a great job so far. But I mean, we’re still pretty far from our goal there.”
The Florida Panthers had to pull goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky when Brett Howden scored his second goal for his Vegas team, putting them ahead 4-0.
Game 3 is on Thursday at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, where the Panthers will try to get a game back in the series.
