Tkachuk forces OT with 2:13 left as Panthers rally past Vegas for first win in Cup Final

The Florida Panthers’ net was empty and their season all but on the line, and Matthew Tkachuk was right where he needed to be.

The superstar right wing, who only hours ago deemed Game 3 a must-win situation for the Panthers, prowled in his comfortable place around the Vegas Golden Knights’ crease and waited for his chance to save Florida’s season. One shot came from the outside, a bit too high and he still nearly tipped it into the net. A second came and bounced precisely where Tkachuk needed it.

Tkachuk, who had already scored four game-winning goals in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, added a game-tying goal with 2:13 left, and Florida avoided disaster in the 2023 Stanley Cup Final by beating the Golden Knights, 3-2, in overtime in Sunrise.

“I was just in the right place at the right time and the puck just landed right on my stick,” Tkachuk said. “It was a very easy goal, actually.”

Vegas’ series lead is down to 2-1 and neither team has yet to lose a home game. The Panthers were a little more than two minutes away from falling into a near-insurmountable 3-0 hole and now will have a chance to tie the series in Game 4 on Saturday in South Florida.

Left wing Carter Verhaeghe scored with 15:33 left in the overtime, after the Panthers killed off a penalty to start the extra session, and Florida won despite trailing for the vast majority of the game by scoring twice in less than seven minutes.

The Panthers have won all seven of their overtime games in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and Verhaeghe is the first player in NHL history to score multiple overtime goals in back-to-back postseasons. The winger also assisted on Tkachuk’s game-tying goal before blasting a game-winning shot through a bit of traffic from the high slot, off an assist from center Sam Bennett.

“I think he’s passed the puck on every single goal,” said Verhaeghe, who also scored the overtime goal to eliminate the Bruins in Game 7 of the first round.

Florida pulled off the win despite letting Vegas go 2 for 6 on the power play and going 0 for 5 on their own. It pulled it off despite their series-long penalty total climbing to 33, with their penalty minutes now at 146.

The win was the the Panthers’ first ever in a Stanley Cup Final and now has the Panthers just three wins away from hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first time.

Had Tkachuk not scored and Verhaeghe not won the game, such a goal would’ve been nearly impossible. Now, it’s well within reach.

“We don’t know how we’re going to get there,” Tkachuk said, “but we’re going to do everything we can to get there.”

Before it staged a comeback, Florida blew a lead and spent more than a period scraping to get it back. Star defenseman Brandon Montour scored just 4:08 in to put the Panthers up 1-0, but Florida wound up tied 1-1 at the first intermission despite a 10-1 first-period edge in 5-on-5 scoring chances. The Golden Knights erased the Panthers’ lead on one power-play goal by Vegas right wing Mark Stone with 3:57 left in the first and they took a 2-1 lead when Golden Knights winger Jonathan Marchessault scored another power-play goal with 5:01 left in the second.

Vegas is now 6 of 16 on the power play in this series. The Panthers are 0 for 12. When the game was played at even strength, Florida was mostly fine, generating more scoring chances than the Golden Knights and outscoring them 3-0.

Tkachuk, Verhaeghe just saved Stanley Cup Final and championship dream for Florida Panthers | Opinion

The game — the Panthers’ first at home in a Cup Final since 1996 and the first ever at FLA Live Arena — started with Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino banging the drum to fire up the crowd of 19,735 and the quick goal from Montour sent it into a frenzy.

Only about seven minutes later, an uneasy mood settled in. A crunching hit from Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar sent Tkcachuk tumbling to the ice and stumbling as he tried to get up. The All-Star winger stayed in for the ensuing power play, but then went back to the locker with 12:44 left in the first and period and didn’t return until 15:34 remained in the second, stuck in concussion protocol until he could get cleared.

By the time he returned, the game was 1-1, and Vegas was in the middle of flipping play. After the Panthers had a 10-1 lead in 5-on-5 scoring chances in the first period, the Golden Knights had a 9-3 edge in the second to leave Florida reeling until Tkachuk and Verhaeghe teamed up to save the Panthers.

“We’ve just seen it before with Matthew. It’s more the mood on the bench in the last five, six minutes. There’s that belief it can happen,” coach Paul Maurice said. “There’s an intensity on the bench that good things can happen.”