Montour flew home for son's birth, was back for Game 2 with Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Brandon Montour couldn't sleep.

He had just played in the first Stanley Cup Final game of his career, Game 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, something that might have left him restless and sleepless anyway. But instead of hopping on the Florida Panthers team bus postgame to return to their Las Vegas hotel, Montour was sitting alone on a private plane jetting across the country.

Just after the game ended, coach Paul Maurice and general manager Bill Zito informed Montour that his wife, Ryian, due with the couple's first baby on June 18 and expected to be induced June 14, had gone into labor just before the game started.

Now. Today.

He had to get back.

"I was getting text messages from her parents, just where she was at," Montour said Wednesday. "They didn't think I was going to make it."

But Montour, who had gotten on the plane at 11 p.m. in Las Vegas, landed in Florida around 6:30 a.m. and went right to the hospital in Boca Raton, right to the side of his wife, who hadn't yet given birth.

"Went to the delivery room and it was kind of game-on there," Montour said. "He came at noon. I was there at 6:30. We were joking, but as soon as I got there, it was straight to work.

"For her, not me."

Kai Montour arrived, with both his parents in attendance.

"I didn't know when he was going to come, I tried to get there as quick as I could," Montour said. "Luckily I was there for it all and got to experience it with her."

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But that's not where the adventure ended for Montour. While he had been flying all night, his team was preparing for Game 2, set to be played Monday. After Montour hopped back on another plane to retrace his route across the country, he was back in Las Vegas by 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

His teammates, many fathers among them, were there to welcome him.

"It's great. Obviously, I have family back home, but this is my family when I'm at the rink," Montour said. "They care about what's going on in my life and they're excited for me.

"Unfortunately, Game 2 didn't end the way we wanted, but we tried to have that motivation, new baby in the world to help us out. But obviously they care so much about me and as do I with them. It was nice to come back and try to get back to business as quick as we could."

Montour had no points in the game, a 7-2 loss that put the Panthers in a 2-0 hole in the best-of-7 series but led them with 26:13 time on ice. He was on for two even-strength goals against, Brett Howden's goal at 7:10 of the second period and Michael Amadio's at 10:33 of the third.

He has been held without a point thus far in the Stanley Cup Final, but Montour has nine points (six goals, three assists) in 18 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season.

"He got his frequent flyer miles in," Maurice said. "But good that he was there for it."

He will be back for Game 3 on Thursday at FLA Live Arena (8 p.m. ET; TNT, TBS, truTV, CBC, SN, TVAS), when the Panthers attempt to get their first-ever win in the Stanley Cup Final.

Not that Maurice is worried about the toll this has taken on Montour.

"'Monty's a physical specimen," Maurice said. "He can handle a little fatigue, and I think it was just a good way for him to get used to becoming a father, or a mother, for that matter. Sleep debt is your life for the next 12 years."

And while Montour didn't get to be there for everything, he made it for the most important part: the birth of Kai.

"He missed the first drive home. We had a good laugh about that," Maurice said. "But he'll be there for a lot of firsts."