How the Florida Panthers matched up against Vegas this season
The Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights are set to begin their Stanley Cup Final matchup on Saturday June 3. With a few days left to preview the series, now is the time to see how they two teams faired against one another during the regular season.
How the Florida Panthers matched up against Vegas this season
The Panthers and Golden Knights played just twice during the regular season, however both games came during the second half of the season with their first matchup being in Vegas on Jan. 12 and then on Mar. 7 in Florida.
The regular season series resulted in a split with the home game winning in both games. Vegas won 4-2 at home, and Florida won 2-1 at home.
During the Golden Knights victory, Jack Eichel scored a critical goal in the third period to tie the game up at 2 before William Carrier would score the game winning goal with just under three minutes left in the game.
If the Panthers are to be successful in this series, it needs to start with shutting down Jack Eichel, as well as playing a more physical game than the Knights.
These two teams are really built for the postseason, there is a reason each of these teams find themselves in the Stanley Cup Final. However, only one can end up hoisting the Stanley Cup when all is said and done.
Sergei Bobrovsky played in both of the two regular season games against Vegas. During those two matchups he played pretty well in both matchups, obviously the Panthers win was his better game with a save percentage of .957 and some pretty good saves at that.
On the flip side, Adin Hill played in both of the Golden Knights games against the Panthers this season. He too played pretty well, but if there is one thing the Stars showed in their two victories over Vegas it is that Hill is not unstoppable if you apply enough pressure.
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The entire playoff run for the Florida Panthers has revolved around them being an underdog. First they played the best regular season team in NHL history, and despite falling behind 3-1 in the series, they found a way to pull out a win. Then they faced the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team destined for success after finally making it out of the first round, and Florida jumped out to a commanding 3-1 lead in that series before winning game five. Then in the conference final they ran into a Carolina Hurricanes team that has been one of the best teams all year, and they swept them in four really close down to the wire games. In every round the Panthers have found a way to reach another level, and who is to say that can’t happen one more time against the Vegas Golden Knights?