The Sixteen: Golden Knights Offense Explodes in Game 2 of Cup Final

After defeating the Florida Panthers, 5-2, in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Vegas Golden Knights were three games away from winning the Stanley Cup. Vegas had its sights set on a 2-0 series lead that history has proven difficult to overcome in the final series. Only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1966 and 1971 Montreal Canadiens, the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins and the 2011 Boston Bruins had come back from a 2-0 deficit to win in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Fortress opened on a hot and sunny 96-degree day, and it was time for playoff hockey.

Adin Hill already had an entire fan club waiting to cheer him on behind the net. His incredible save in Game 1 became the latest example of the netminder's rise in popularity among the Cup-crazed fans.

Jonathan Marchessault, the former Florida Panther, struck first on the power play 7:05 into the game.

The fans were loving it, including those dressed like Elvis.

About ten minutes later, Alec Martinez put Vegas up 2-0. Marchessault notched another point on Martinez's goal with an assist.

Meanwhile, in the stands, Beckham Karlsson, William Karlsson's newborn son, was cheering on his dad at his first ever VGK game.

The Golden Knights skated out for the second period with a 2-0 lead. The Panthers made a habit of coming back in games in the postseason so Vegas knew a quick strike would mean some security. Nicolas Roy's goal three minutes into the second provided that cushion.

Five minutes after Roy's goal, Brett Howden found the back of the net to extend the lead to 4-0. The goal triggered a goalie change for Florida as Alex Lyon came in for Sergei Bobrovsky.

Tensions rose before the second period came to a close when Matthew Tkachuk landed a crushing hit on Jack Eichel. Tkachuk was mobbed by Alex Pietrangelo, Alec Martinez and Ivan Barbashev after the hit as they defended their teammate who had just run to the locker room in pain.Golden Knights fans were holding their breath at the thought of playing without Eichel for the remainder of the series. The second intermission seemed to move in slow motion as everyone awaited Eichel's status.

Eichel returned to the bench for the third period and was greeted to equal parts cheers and sighs of relief at T-Mobile Arena. The excitement died down quickly, though, as Anthony Duclair scored 14 seconds into the third. Marchessault answered as he scored once again for his third point of the night to make it a 5-1 game.

Despite the huge hit he had just taken, Eichel was the primary assist on Marchessault's goal.

Michael Amadio then put the Golden Knights up 6-1 just eight minutes later. Tkachuk responded to make it 6-2, but Brett Howden landed the final blow of the night with his second goal of the game on the power play. It was a 7-2 win for Vegas, and the reality of hoisting the Stanley Cup was just two wins away.

Even after a 7-2 win, Bruce Cassidy was happy but still believed there were areas that could be done better.

"After the second period, there were parts where we might've lost our competitive edge for some shifts," Cassidy said. "You got to be real careful of that this time of year. It's not a January game where the team is moving on to their next opponent… There are still things we'll look at that we know we can do better."

The Golden Knights were about to enter enemy territory for Games 3 and 4, so being on top of their game will be required to beat the Cats in their building.