Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers were dealt a tough blow ahead of Tuesday's 9-3 Game 5 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals.

Star forward Matthew Tkachuk was ruled out for Game 5 with an upper body injury, according to Kyle Bukauskas of Sportsnet. Grigori Denisenko took his place in the lineup.

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period added that Tkachuk was dealing with a "serious" upper body injury before David Dwork of The Hockey News reported after the game that Tkachuk had suffered a broken sternum.

Tkachuk suffered the injury in Game 3 and played through the ailment in Game 4, head coach Paul Maurice told reporters.

Maurice says Tkachuk fractured his sternum in Game 3 and that he’s one of 4 guys with broken bones.

He said he needed help getting dressed for Game 4, but still powered through to play a bit. By Game 5, he just couldn’t do anymore.

“He’ll be fine,” Maurice said.

Warrior.

— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) June 14, 2023

Tkachuk was limited to just 16:40 of ice time in Florida's Game 4 loss to Vegas on Saturday. While he recorded four shots on goal in that matchup, it was clear he was laboring with an apparent injury.

The 25-year-old was Florida's best and most valuable player this postseason. He led the Panthers with 11 goals and 24 points in 20 games and also tallied four game-winning goals, three of which came in overtime.

Additionally, Tkachuk tallied two goals and one assist in four games against the Golden Knights.

With the Panthers in a do-or-die situation, it was on the remainder of the team to pick up the slack with Tkachuk sidelined, and team captain Aleksander Barkov echoed that sentiment while speaking with reporters before Game 5.

"He's a top player in this league. He's a huge player for our team," Barkov said of Tkachuk. "No matter what, I think everyone has to step up a little bit and play a little better than we've been."

To say the Panthers struggled against the Golden Knights would be an understatement. Vegas outscored Florida 26-12 and carried much of the play through all five games.

The Panthers rallied back from a 3-1 series deficit in the first round of the playoffs against the top-seeded Boston Bruins, but pulling off that comeback without Tkachuk in the Stanley Cup Final proved to be unrealistic.

The Florida Panthers are facing a 3-1 series deficit ahead of Tuesday's Stanley Cup Final Game 5 against the Vegas Golden Knights, and there's some uncertainty as to whether their top player will be on the ice.

Per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, Panthers coach Paul Maurice said the status of Matthew Tkachuk will not be revealed until Tuesday night. Tkachuk is dealing with an apparent upper-body injury.

"Update will be tomorrow," Maurice said Monday. "You'll get all that big information tomorrow night."

Tkachuk didn't skate in Florida's optional practice at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. During Saturday's 3-2 Game 4 loss, he logged just 16 minutes and 40 seconds of ice time and skated only four shifts in the third period. He had a chance to tie the game with a shot near the crease as time expired, but he couldn't convert.

MAJOR FIREWORKS TO END GAME 4 🎆 https://t.co/2wenZQW3mu

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 11, 2023

After the loss, Tkachuk was asked what it would take for him to miss Game 5 and he said: "That's a tough question. I don't really want to talk about that right now."

Tkachuk leads the Panthers with 11 goals and 24 points this postseason. He was the engine behind the team's run to the Stanley Cup Final, notching four game-winning goals, three of which came in overtime.

Maurice indicated on Sunday that there's a chance Tkachuk will take the ice in a limited role in Game 5.

"There are players that will play just power play. There are guys that will stay on for offensive zone draws. There's different styles of center and winger that you can play with to kind of put them in a position to be good at what they can be good at," he said.

The Panthers are attempting to become just the second NHL team ever to rally from a 3-1 deficit in a Stanley Cup Final. Florida will need Tkachuk to be in the lineup if it hopes to keep its season alive.

One victory is all that stands between the Vegas Golden Knights and their first Stanley Cup title following a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Saturday's Game 4.

The Western Conference champs return home Tuesday with the hopes of wrapping up their momentous playoff run and hoisting the most coveted prize in hockey and, as forward Chandler Stephenson told reporters after the victory, they know what is at stake.

"It's different. It'll be a different game than the other ones. It's a lot more emotion, a lot more everything. Everyone knows what's going to be there. [We'll] just try to play. Lot of emotion. Being at home too, everyone is going to be into it. Emotions will be high, adrenaline [pumping]. All the cliches. Everyone is going to be ready," he said.

The franchise itself understands the enormity of the situation, too.

Five years ago, the still-new organization watched the Washington Capitals celebrate on the ice in Las Vegas having just defeated the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Finals, 4-1. There is an opportunity to right that wrong, to head back to the same site of their greatest heartbreak, and share the ultimate celebration with their fans.

Even with the possibility that they can wrap things up and achieve the childhood dreams of so many on the team, there is an understanding that there is still work to be done.

"[Winning a Cup] is the ultimate goal in hockey. So, there's no way you can shut that off in your mind. You're thinking about that but at the same time it's just staying in the moment and focusing on the next play, the next shift," goalie Adin Hill said after the game.

🎥 Hill: It's exciting. We're one win away from our goal. We'll get rested up, recover and get ready for Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/P0Db1XIIiW

— y-Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) June 11, 2023

Focus will be key because as we have seen in these 2023 playoffs, Florida has a history of coming from behind and shocking the hockey world.

"It's nice that obviously we did it before, so the belief's got to be there. That's the only way out of this. Obviously, we're in a hole, but I like our chances to get back," defenseman Brandon Montour said after Game 4. "We've got a fight in this group and guys are desperate to win these next ones."

Winger Matthew Tkachuk, deliverer and receiver of some of the biggest hits this postseason and one of the tone-setters for the Panther squad, echoed those sentiments.

"Just go out there, win one game and force them to come back to Florida. That's pretty much the message in this room. Same thing with Boston. Boston had packed it up and moved on to the next round when we played them. So, we just thought short term, get it back to Florida."

Belief and confidence in one's self and teammates may be immensely important but the raw emotion and energy that will fill the T-Mobile Arena Tuesday night will be unlike any the team has experienced to this point.

"All we can do is think about one game and bringing it back to Florida. That's our goal. That's what we want to do in Vegas."@JamesonCoop recaps tonight's game. » https://t.co/VCBCpyvpHO pic.twitter.com/PLbzwS0ylo

— x - Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) June 11, 2023

They have done the unthinkable before, against a historically great Bruins squad, but this is a Golden Knights organization that has come close before and has scratched and clawed its way back here with the intent of erasing the disappointment of 2018 and giving the young franchise its first taste of immortality.

Barring a letdown, that goal should be achieved.

Florida Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk is dealing with an undisclosed ailment that could hold him out of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.

"We got two days off to assess that. Get some good rest and we'll make that decision [then]," Panthers coach Paul Maurice told reporters after Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Las Vegas Knights in Game 4, which put Florida on the brink of elimination.

Tkachuk was limited to 16:40 of ice time in Game 4 as he dealt with the injury and struggled to stay in peak form throughout.

"Obviously, you want to be out there playing. Just was able to go out there at the end and tried to make some magic happen late but ran out of time," Tkachuk said.

The Panthers trailed 3-0 on their home ice before mounting a comeback and narrowly missing out on tying the game as time expired. Tkachuk was among the scrum near the net peppering Vegas goaltender Adin Hill with shots and pokes near the net, and the two sides engaged in a brawl as the final horn sounded.

Tkachuk and Brandon Montour both earned 10-minute misconduct penalties as a result of the brawl, though those will not carry over for Game 5. The Panthers star has had an uncharacteristically quiet Stanley Cup Final, scoring just three points in four games.

In fact, Tkachuk's most notable statistic of this series has been his massive penalty minutes total. He's racked up 50 total minutes of penalties in four games, continuing a trend that saw him set a career high with 123 penalty minutes during the regular season.

The increased aggressiveness also helped spur a career-best 109 points, so it's fair for the Panthers to give him the leeway to mix it up on occasion. That said, given he was already hurt, scrapping at the end of a game when your team is facing elimination likely wasn't the best move.

Like most sports-talk jargon, the concept of a "must-win" game has basically lost all meaning.

So for this written exercise, we're going to talk about a "must-get-rid-of-bad-vibes" game for the Florida Panthers. Down 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Final and heading back home after sustaining 5-2 and 7-2 losses, Florida absolutely had to erase the bad vibes come Game 3.

Those vibes, brought to you by poor defense, lack of discipline and roughly four million PIMS, were not the typical vibes-per-60 of the Cinderella Panthers we've come to know. Game 3 in Sunrise was not technically a "must-win," but it was a "must-vibe."

So, after everyone "F—-ing breathed," how else would perhaps the most unexpectedly clutch NHL playoff team win its first Stanley Cup Final game in franchise history?

Sometimes the best way to interpret a situation is the easiest way, and simply put, the Panthers won Game 3 and cut Vegas' series lead to 2-1 because of the Return of the Vibe. Of course, it was ushered in by yet another late-game Matthew Tkachuk goal. This time, he tied it up to force overtime with 2:13 left in regulation.

A lopsided overtime that favored Vegas was no match for The Vibes, as Carter Verhaeghe finished it off 4:27 into after-hours.

The funny thing about the win is that the Panthers didn't solve the problems that were plaguing them through the first two games. Special teams didn't help, as the Golden Knights scored both of their regulation goals on the man advantage. Meanwhile, the Panthers went 0-for-5 on their power play. It wasn't exactly their strongest performance in terms of discipline, either, with 24 total giveaways to Vegas' seven. Everything in terms of scoring chances, high-danger chances, Corsi and faceoffs was relatively even between the two teams at even strength, as it has been for the majority of time on ice through this series despite the deceptively uneven scoreboards.

As much as we love analyzing games and rosters to death, and as useful as tool analytics is, there's a time and a place. That time and place aren't in the third period of any No. 8 seed, Tkachuk-led 2022-23 Florida Panther game. And don't you dare let this team get to overtime.

"There's that belief that it can happen," Florida coach Paul Maurice told reporters after the game. "There's an intensity on the bench about good things that can happen."

The Panthers obviously disappointed last season, but you'll recall Verhaeghe scored two overtime goals in the first round last season. With Thursday's goal, he became the only player in NHL history with multiple overtime goals in consecutive playoffs.

And if it feels like these dramatic intangibles, clutchness, and overtime winners keep happening for the Panthers as a whole, you're not wrong. Florida has now won 10 straight overtime playoff games, the second-longest streak in NHL history behind the 1993-98 Canadiens (14).

The magic started for this team as it snuck into the playoffs, barely making the postseason after an unbelievable loss by the Penguins to Chicago on home ice. (That led to a weird butterfly effect, but that's a story for another day.)

It carried over after a 3-1 series comeback to the regular-season dominating Bruins. Remember those late regulation goals in back-to-back games against Boston, with Eetu Luostarinen winning Game 6 at 14:22 of the third and Brandon Montour tying it up with one minute left in Game 7 regulation? The late goals and overtime heroics beginning in round one have become an identity ever since.

Tkachuk's clutch factor has given him the publicity that transcends the hockey world at this point, with a feature in PEOPLE magazine and a spot alongside Shaq on TNT's NBA show to name a few big hits.

“I don’t really watch hockey, I just like to see you guys fight.” 😂

Shaq kept it real with Matthew Tkachuk 😅 https://t.co/Lsy0s0AlDW

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 28, 2023

When we think of his rise to fame, we'll certainly look back at the goal that sent Florida to the Cup Final – the heartbreaker scored with 4.9 seconds left in regulation to end Carolina's run.

He's now got seven goals in the third period or overtime this postseason. Only seven players have had more in one playoff year in NHL history, with Steve Payne holding the record at 10 in 1981 for the Minnesota North Stars.

Speaking of the overall team's spotless overtime record, the franchise is on a 10-0 playoff overtime run, but the 2022-23 Panthers specifically improved to 7-0 in overtime during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs Thursday, becoming the fifth club in NHL history to secure at least seven overtime wins in one playoff year. Florida became the third team to claim at least seven consecutive overtime wins in a postseason.

Of course, if you're the Panthers, you'd prefer to have the series lead. You'd prefer to have a multi-goal lead in every game, and you'd prefer not to have to take it to the after hours.

But for a team that's had something to prove at every step of the way and a budding star with a personality, isn't the drama kinda fun?

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Watch complete coverage of the Stanley Cup Final on TNT, TBS and Tru TV all series long

Despite getting blown out in the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final, the Florida Panthers weren't panicking when they returned home for Game 3 looking to avoid falling into an 0-3 hole.

Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk told reporters everyone "counted us out before the Final even started" after Thursday's dramatic 3-2 overtime win against the Vegas Golden Knights.

"We're that type of team where we know what the end goal [is]," he added. "We don't know how we're going to get there, but we're going to do everything we can to get there."

Tkachuk, who briefly left the game in the first period to be evaluated for a concussion, kept the Panthers' hopes alive in Game 3 when he scored an empty-net goal with 2:13 remaining in the third period to tie the score 2-2.

TKACHUK HAS TIED THE GAME WITH THE NET EMPTY 😱😱😱😱😱

THEY'RE GOING WILD IN FLORIDA https://t.co/Z2MErLrY1e

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 9, 2023

Carter Verhaeghe won the game for Florida with his goal 4:27 into the overtime session.

The Panthers' postseason run has been a huge surprise after a rough regular season. They had the fewest points of any team that made the playoffs (92) and had to play a Boston Bruins team that set NHL records with 65 wins and 135 points in the regular season.

After falling behind 3-1 to the Bruins, the Panthers won the final three games in the series (two in overtime) to reach the second round. That was the start of a run in which they won 11 of 12 games, including a sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final, to reach the Stanley Cup Final.

The Golden Knights dominated the first two games of the Cup Final, outscoring the Panthers 12-4.

Florida was able to respond thanks to Tkachuk's heroics and put the pressure back on Vegas going into Game 4 on Saturday night.

Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk was taken off the ice in the first period of Thursday's 3-2 overtime win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final by the NHL's concussion spotters.

Head coach Paul Maurice confirmed to reporters after the game the league required Tkachuk be examined after taking a hard hit from Keegan Kolesar that knocked him to the ice.

Tkachuk was initially examined by a team doctor on the bench, returned for a shift later in the first period but left the bench area again and didn't return until early in the second period after clearing concussion protocol.

The two-time All-Star played a huge role in the Game 3 win by scoring an empty-net goal with just over two minutes remaining in the third period to tie the game 2-2.

TKACHUK HAS TIED THE GAME WITH THE NET EMPTY 😱😱😱😱😱

THEY'RE GOING WILD IN FLORIDA https://t.co/Z2MErLrY1e

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 9, 2023

"He's going to come back no matter what," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said of Tkachuk after the game. "He's really tough guy, and he's going to battle through everything."

Verhaeghe's overtime goal four minutes into the extra period gave Florida a potential series-saving victory. The Panthers lost the first two games in Las Vegas by a combined score of 12-4.

Sergei Bobrovsky, who was pulled in the second period of Game 2 after allowing four goals on 13 shots, had a terrific bounce-back effort. He stopped 25 of 27 shots on Thursday and had his highest save percentage in a game since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final in a 1-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Tkachuk's Game 3 heroics add another chapter in the book of this postseason for the 25-year-old. His 24 points are tied with Roope Hintz of the Dallas Stars for the most by any player in the playoffs.

Games 1 and 2 against the Golden Knights marked the first time Florida has lost back-to-back playoff games since Games 3 and 4 against the Boston Bruins to fall behind 3-1 in the first round. The Panthers responded by winning six consecutive games and 11 of 12 overall to reach the Stanley Cup Final.

After securing the franchise's first victory in a Cup Final game on Thursday, the Panthers will look to even the series on their home ice in Game 4 on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.

The Florida Panthers were on the ropes throughout much of Thursday's Stanley Cup Final Game 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights, but they scored a miracle 3-2 victory on Carter Verhaeghe's overtime goal.

The win cut the series deficit to 2-1 for the Panthers, who remain undefeated in overtime during the postseason.

After Jonathan Marchessault's goal late in the second period gave the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead, the Panthers struggled to get much momentum going and looked to be on their way to a devastating loss on their home ice. However, Florida star Matthew Tkachuk came up clutch once again with a goal with 2:13 left in the third period to force overtime.

The extra period started out with the Panthers facing a power play by the Golden Knights, who scored both their goals on power plays in regulation. Fortunately for Florida, the penalty was killed and Verhaeghe broke through with a goal soon after to send fans at FLA Live Arena home happy.

Twitter was set ablaze after Verhaeghe's stunning goal, with many excited that the Panthers avoided an insurmountable 3-0 deficit:

THE PANTHERS HAVE WON IT IN OVERTIME 🚨🚨🚨🚨

WE'VE GOT OURSELVES A SERIES FOLKS 🤯 https://t.co/bs2YyZlnYk

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 9, 2023

Carter Verhaeghe, a Stanley Cup champion 3 years ago, delivers the @FlaPanthers' first-ever victory in a Stanley Cup Final game. @NHLNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 9, 2023

Verhaeghe with a DART https://t.co/q9czZie1HB

— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr) June 9, 2023

The Panthers keep hitting on 18 and getting blackjack, as any resident of Las Vegas could tell you. https://t.co/grq4Efs2Y9

— Matt Zemek (@MattZemek) June 9, 2023

For the third time in his career, Carter Verhaeghe scores the biggest goal in Panthers history https://t.co/ARFzWCqqSw

— 🏆- Jacob @ PantherPourri, a @FlaHockeyNow Podcast (@PTPJacob) June 9, 2023

Season was looking like it was over… Panthers pull Bobrovsky with about 2:45-3:00 left… UNBELIEVABLE!!! Tkachuk ties it then a absolute bogus penalty on Panthers with :11 left.. Panthers in OT kill penalty then Verhaeghe wins it!!! #TimeToHunt

— Miami Mando 🙌🏝🏈⚾️🏀🥊🏒⛳️ (@LakersCanes305) June 9, 2023

Florida wins in OT.

We've got a series.

Game 4 is Saturday. @NHLNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 9, 2023

7-0 in overtime now, cot damn

— Mike Halford (@MikeHalford604) June 9, 2023

The Panthers have now won 10 straight overtime playoff games overall, 2nd longest streak all-time behind the Montreal Canadiens (14 from 1993-1998)@ESPNStatsInfo

— ᴀʀᴅᴀ Öᴄᴀʟ (@Arda) June 9, 2023

Caught up quickly with Vinny Viola outside the Panthers locker room. He called that a franchise defining win. Hard to argue.

— David Dwork (@DavidDwork) June 9, 2023

PANTHERS WIN FIRST-EVER STANLEY CUP FINAL GAME IN OVERTIME 🙌 pic.twitter.com/wJtugwWkgo

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 9, 2023

Tha Carter Verhaeghe fresh off the Game 3 OT winner with the @NHL_on_TNT desk 🔥 https://t.co/yCOTpXAmyL

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 9, 2023

Florida made some silly mistakes early on with a total of eight penalties, but the team cleaned things up when it mattered most. If the Panthers can continue to play with discipline, they will have a great chance of tying the series.

The Panthers will look to keep the momentum going in Game 4 against the Golden Knights on Saturday night.

The Stanley Cup Final won't be over if the Florida Panthers lose Game 3 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night, but that's basically how Panthers forward Anthony Duclair is approaching the situation.

"It's a must-win. We know the situation," he told reporters. "I think even going back to the Boston series, it's just not a position you want to be in, but at the same time, it brings the best out of us. We're just looking forward to the challenge, especially coming in at home."

Teammate Matthew Tkachuk echoed the sentiment and said Florida "can't make it a series" if it falls behind 3-0.

Winning a postseason series after losing the first three games has been done four times before: Toronto Maple Leafs (1942), New York Islanders (1975), Philadelphia Flyers (2010) and Los Angeles Kings (2014).

The Panthers also clawed back in the first round earlier this postseason after falling behind 3-1 to the top-seeded Boston Bruins, so they're no strangers to adversity.

To Duclair and Tkachuk's point, though, it would be hard to see a path forward for Florida if Vegas claims Game 3.

The performance of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is certainly a major concern.

The two-time Vezina Trophy winner has allowed eight goals on 46 total shots through the first two games. His save percentage is .826 in the Stanley Cup Final compared to .935 through the first three rounds. Bobrovsky got pulled after spending just 27:10 on the ice in the Panthers' 7-2 defeat in Game 2.

The NBA nearly saw their first-ever 3-0 comeback this year when the Boston Celtics evened up the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. But by the end, Boston was totally out of gas and lost Game 7 by 19 points. Not to mention, the Celtics needed a buzzer-beater to stay alive in Game 6 as well.

The sense of urgency Duclair and Tkachuk feel is more than warranted.

Do not get it twisted: Despite the naysayers, despite whatever you think about how they've handled player transactions and coaches, despite their annoying-but-dare-I-say-growing-on-me social media presence, the Vegas Golden Knights deserve every bit of their success.

People are categorizing their success as some kind of scrappy story, but that's simply not true. They owned the best record in the Western Conference when the regular season ended and were in a playoff spot for most of the year despite being hit hard by injuries.

What they excel at is having an effect on their opponents that one can only describe as the banana peel in Mario Kart. The Knights seem to bring out the worst in the best players on any opposing team.

They made Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn take the stupidest penalty of his life when it mattered most, and now they're making Matthew Tkachuk take three misconduct penalties and rack up 36 PIMs through two games.

Vegas has handily won both games 5-2, 7-2, and Tkachuk—the Panthers' clutch factor throughout the playoffs—only has one goal to show.

Florida, who knocked out the best regular-season team in NHL, overcame a highly powered Maple Leafs and swept a strong Hurricanes team in the Eastern Conference Final, is definitely the underdog. And something needs to change.

Down 2-0, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice was asked at practice Wednesday if Tkachuk needs to give more in Game 3.

"Like, more misconducts?" he said. "I think he's got that covered."

Maurice's hilarity has been one of the most refreshing aspects of the 2023 playoffs, and two of those three misconduct calls looked weak. Regardless, the officials obviously want none of Tkachuk's nonsense.

As silly as the punishments may seem—especially the light flicking of a rubber rat into the boards—it's clear the officials want none of it and you don't want to lose a Cup Final over it.

So, what do the Panthers have to do to pull a win out and get back into this fight?

Matthew Tkachuk receives his second 10-minute misconduct of the game and third of the series. pic.twitter.com/ziVDJSqSgQ

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 6, 2023

Take it from someone on the sidelines who has never appeared in a Stanley Cup playoff game: Just chill out, man.

It all starts with Tkachuk, who was a Conn Smythe favorite until Florida went down 0-2 in the series. His recent rise to fame is so awesome because he contains multitudes. It's not like he just woke up after scoring all those clutch goals that got the Panthers to the Final and decided to blow it.

He is Florida's Sagittarius rat king and he's got to be himself. Lucky for the Panthers, Radko Gudas is expected to play on Friday, and that should help Tkachuk focus on the goal-scoring aspect of his game knowing his teammate will bring the rat king activities.

That goes for the rest of the team as well. Vegas is 9-0 when scoring a power-play goal this postseason, so the best strategy here would be to stay out of the penalty box.

The point of this all is the good juju was once on the Panthers' side. They'd earned it, pouncing on any misstep their opponents made until the Cup Final, but much of their success has relied on opponents making consequential mistakes in the first place.

What do you do against an opponent that appears to make no errors? You have to create your own magic. If anyone can do that, it's a dialed-in Tkachuk; if anyone can't do that, it's a Tkachuk who is in the penalty box for an entire period.

Another thing about the Golden Knights is that they have a knack for crushing a goalie's dreams. Again, it's almost like this team going up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Final is good or something.

No one including the Panthers expected Sergei Bobrovsky to pop off the way he did this postseason, which is why Florida didn't start with him in net. But other than Tkachuk, the Russian netminder has been the reason this team has held on to make it to the Final. He's leading the playoffs through 16 games, with 18.95 goals saved above expected.

Game 2 was far and away his worst performance of the playoffs, the only time he's recorded a negative goals saved above expected at -2.62, per MoneyPuck.com. The thing is, Alex Lyon coming in obviously didn't help as the team lost 7-2. The defense was atrocious, reminiscent of some of its regular-season performances that had us all worried about this team in the first place.

Bobrovsky's one bad display came at the worst time, but punishing him for it just isn't going to end with the Panthers winning the Cup. Start him confidently and pray the defense doesn't implode around him.

As for the Panthers' defense? Thoughts and prayers.

And as the Vegas Golden Knights keep winning games by an embarrassing margin and proving their imaginary haters wrong, one thing is clear: They are not going to do the Panthers any favors.

Florida needs to focus on itself, Tkachuk needs to be a good rat and, for the love of God, keep playing Bobrovsky.

When it comes to this Vegas team, though, I'm starting to think none of it matters.