Aleksander Barkov recorded his 200th career goal as the Florida Panthers beat the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.
First Frame
Early on, nothing really important happened. However, at 7:51, Zach Whitecloud recorded his sixth goal of the season to give Vegas a 1-0 lead. This gave the Golden Knights a much-needed early start against the red-hot Florida Panthers offense.
Fast forwarding, Aleksander Barkov netted his 19th goal of the season while shorthanded to tie the game at one apiece. The Panthers outshot the Golden Knights 14-10.
Second Frame
In the second period, Florida added another goal thanks to Sam Bennett’s wrister (unassisted).
As the Panthers looked to add to their lead, Vegas went on their second power play of the game. Luckily for Florida, Vegas did not cash in.
In the end, the second period’s buzzer sounded with Florida leading Las Vegas 2-1. Thus far, the Panthers looked dominant in the offensive zone, and got the puck out quickly in the defensive zone.
After 40 minutes of play, shots were even at 20.
Third Frame
Vegas headed into the third frame needing to tie the game at two apiece. So, as one can expect, the Golden Knights sent a slew of shots towards Spencer Knight in net. However, no pucks went across the goal line.
Vegas pulled their goalie for the final minute to try to tie the game and force an overtime period. However, the Panthers pressured and scored two empty-netters in less than a minute.
Mason Marchment (fifth goal of the season) and Sam Bennett (second of the night) closed the door on Vegas to pick up a 4-1 dominant win on home ice. Florida has now won two in a row, and remains in first place in the Atlantic Division.
Next Up
The Panthers will stay in Sunrise, Florida to host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.
The Golden Knights, meanwhile, will stay in the Sunshine State to play Tampa Bay, another hot team in the league.
(Featured image by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)