Marchessault among top players for Golden Knights in Game 2 of Cup Final

LAS VEGAS -- Who played well in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final? Sometimes it's easy to tell, sometimes it isn't. NHL.com graded the players in the 7-2 victory by the Vegas Golden Knights against the Florida Panthers at T-Mobile Arena on Monday. Here are the players and trends that stood out the most.

Honor Roll

Jonathan Marchessault (Vegas Golden Knights): Marchessault has been on a tear since not scoring in the first seven games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has 12 goals, the most in a single playoff in Golden Knights history, and scored twice and had an assist against the Panthers in Game 2. He is slowly making a case for the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs.

Adin Hill (Vegas Golden Knights): Like Game 1, Hill was a wall. He made 29 saves in Game 2, including 12 on the penalty kill, and stopped a Carter Verhaeghe breakaway at 4:10 of the first period.

Vegas' fourth line: Nicolas Roy, William Carrier and Keegan Kolesar are known for their heavy forecheck. They drew the assignment of trying to stop Florida's second line of Matthew Tkachuk, Nick Cousins and Sam Bennett. Not only did they respond, limiting Tkachuk to a late goal and Bennett with an assist, they combined for three points, including two assists by Carrier.

Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights): Eichel had two assists to give him 22 points in the playoffs (six goals, 16 assists) and had an impact defensively, where he used his length and skating ability to hound Florida's forwards. It was another strong night for the potential Conn Smythe Trophy candidate.

Anton Lundell (Florida Panthers): It was tough to find a bright spot for the Panthers, who were outplayed by the Golden Knights. Lundell scored 14 seconds into the third period and had three shots in 18:39 of ice time.

RELATED: [Video: FLA@VGK, Gm2: Marchessault fires home PPG from circle]

Stock Watch

Vegas Special Teams (Up): The Golden Knights scored a power-play goal for the third consecutive game (5-for-14, 35.7 percent) for the first time since Dec. 21-27, and their penalty kill is 9-for-9 in the past three games.

Mark Stone (Up): Stone's assist on Brett Howden's goal was a work of art. After breaking his stick, he delivered a hit on Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour, grabbed a new stick from the bench, received a pass from Chandler Stephenson and then delivered a beautiful pass to Howden, who gave Vegas a 4-0 lead 7:10 into the second period.

Tkachuk (Down): One misconduct penalty when the game is getting out of hand is bad. Three in the same series? Not ideal. Tkachuk scored when the game was well out of hand and will need to find his form if Florida is going to get back into the series.

Ivan Barbashev (Up): The hard-hitting Vegas forward had an assist for the third consecutive game and continues to match Florida's aggressive hitting with some big hits of his own. His hit on defenseman Radko Gudas at 6:38 of the first period forced Gudas out of the game, and Barbashev's impact around the net has been critical for the Golden Knights this postseason.

Florida defense (Down): Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has allowed eight goals in two games and was pulled 7:10 into the second period in Game 2, but his defense has not helped him out. The Golden Knights were able to get into prime scoring areas, establish position around the net and enter the offensive zone with little resistance.

What we learned

Balanced scoring

Alec Martinez became the 18th skater to score for the Golden Knights in the playoffs this season. They are comfortable rolling out four lines and their depth offensively and defensively is a big reason why they are two wins away from winning the Stanley Cup.

Regroup

Prior to Game 2, Tkachuk said the Panthers hoped to steal home ice with a victory. Now the focus becomes protecting home ice. Florida is 4-3 at home but has never trailed 2-0 in any previous series this postseason. That said, the Panters rallied from 3-1 against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference First Round, so they know they can come back in a series.