Matthew Tkachuk's Late Equalizer And An OT Winner By Carter Verhaeghe Keep The Panthers' Stanley Cup Dreams Alive In HUGE Game 3 Win
WHAT A GAME 3 IT WAS!!
Just went it appeared the Florida Panthers were about to pack it in down the stretch, Matthew Tkachuk said, "NOT SO FAST! FOR I AM THE RODENT KING!!!"
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Once this went to overtime, I figured it was only a matter of "when" not "if" Tkachuk found the back of the net. Guy did it twice in the Conference Finals during free playoff hockey. No reason to think he wouldn't make it a "third time's the charm" scenario in this instance. Instead, it was Verhaeghe playing hero with his fourth career playoff overtime goal, per the TNT telecast.
Why waste time, right? No need to stretch the night out too much. First shot of OT? Right over Adin Hill's glove. Send everyone home. SEE YA.
Pretty sure Tua Tagovailoa rallying the troops was what sparked the comeback.
Just needed a little time for the Tua hype to marinate. The Panthers eventually came through. Can't say I'm surprised!
Vegas will be kicking themselves over this one, though. For about 57 minutes or so, the Golden Knights were the better team on the ice. They feasted with the man advantage, evening the score at one in the first period in a 4-on-3 situation with a goal from Mark Stone. Then, Jonathan Marchessault scored his thirteenth goal of these Stanley Cup playoffs with a wrist-rocket/one-timer for the ages:
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It's so wild to think that Florida once had Marchessault in the fold, on a cheap-ass, two-year contract. In Year 1, he delivered with a club-best 30 goals. The Panthers decided to fuck around and leave him exposed for the NHL Expansion Draft. You can infer what happened from there if you don't already know. Yup. Vegas scooped Marchessault up, and he's turned into a franchise cornerstone alongside fellow ex-Panther/alternate Knights captain Reilly Smith (LOVE AND HONOR TO MIAAAAAAAAMIII).
But like…yeah Marchessault has never scored more than 30 goals in a single season. He had 28 in 2022-23 across 76 games. Almost has half that total in the postseason alone. Unreal instance of rising to the occasion on the biggest possible stage. Legacy-making stuff right there.
Side note…Not sure if this is more impressive for Leon Draisaitl or Jonathan Marchessault but it made me laugh regardless:
Prior to Tkachuk's late third-period equalizer, Marchessault actually set up Ivan Barbashev beautifully on an odd-man rush, only to see Barbashev clang his shot off the iron. Brutal break for Vegas, as that would've for sure given them a 3-0 lead with the chance to close out the Stanley Cup in Saturday's Game 4 at FLA Live Arena.
Instead, WE HAVE OURSELVES A SERIES BAY-BEEEEEE! Sergei Bobrovsky really stepped up between the pipes for Florida. His confidence was understandably shaken after getting yanked in Game 2 and letting four pucks past him in the opener. Much better showing from the veteran netminder. Let's see if Bob and his underdog bunch have enough magic left to tie this Stanley Cup Final at two apiece!!
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok