SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Matthew Tkachuk tied it with 2:13 left in the third period and the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights were knotted at 2 going into overtime in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night.
Vegas is trying to take a 3-0 lead in the series. Florida is trying to win a game in the title series for the first time, after getting swept in 1996 and losing the first two matchups to Vegas.
The Golden Knights will have 1:49 left on the power play when overtime begins, after Gustav Forsling was called for tripping late in the third period. Both of Vegas' goals in regulation came on power plays, one from Mark Stone and the second from Jonathan Marchessault.
Adin Hill made 20 saves in regulation for Vegas. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 through three periods for Florida.
Brandon Montour also scored for Florida, which pulled Bobrovsky down 2-1 late in the third for the extra attacker and Tkachuk — who left for parts of the first and second periods after taking a big hit — made that move pay off when he ited it.
His goal breathed life into a very nervous building. But the Panthers were furious — and replays showed they had a case — when Forsling was sent to the box with 11.2 seconds remaining.
Vegas was seeking its 10th comeback win of these playoffs, which would tie the record held by the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins and 2022 Colorado Avalanche.
Both of those clubs hoisted the Cup.
Marchessault went from not scoring a goal in Vegas’ first seven games of the playoffs — he had all of one assist in that stretch — to now likely being someone who’ll get consideration for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
His goal Thursday was his 13th in his last 13 playoff games, his fourth of this series and his third with the man advantage.
As if all that wasn’t enough, there was a little history in there as well. Vegas joined the 1980 New York Islanders as the only team with at least two power-play goals in three consecutive games in the Cup final. And Marchessault became the third player in the last 35 years to score in each of the first three games of a title series — joining Steve Yzerman in 1997 with Detroit and Jake Guentzel with Pittsburgh in 2017.
AROUND THE RINK
Before Thursday, Florida’s last home game in the title series was June 10, 1996, when Uwe Krupp scored in the third overtime for a 1-0 win as Colorado finished off a four-game sweep of the Panthers for the Cup. ... Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was in the crowd, as was NBA great Charles Barkley, and former Dolphins star Dan Marino was the celebrity drummer to welcome the Panthers onto the ice.
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