Making himself at home in his old barn, Nick Cousins, who suited up for Vegas in 2019-20, opened the scoring when he followed up on an attempt from Aaron Ekblad, crashed the net and sent the puck past Adin Hill to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead just 2:02 into the first period.
Given that the Knights' net had come off its moorings just as the goal was scored, officials reviewed the play but eventually upheld it after determining that it was the actions of Vegas defenseman Ben Hutton that caused the displacement prior to the puck crossing the line.
For context, here's a snippet from the NHL's official rulebook: "In the event that the goal post is displaced, either deliberately or accidentally, by a defending player, prior to the puck crossing the goal line between the normal position of the goalposts, the Referee may award a goal."
"I thought the second half of the first period was much better for us," Cousins told Bally Sports Florida during the first intermission. "Bob made some really big saves to keep us in the game. They're at home. We're going to see their best. As the period went on, I thought we got better."
Getting the Knights on the board in the second period, Keegan Kolesar pounced on a turnover in the offensive zone before setting up Nicolas Roy for a goal from the slot to make it 1-1 at 4:08.
Staying red hot on the power play, the Panthers regained the lead when Sam Reinhart finished off a pretty tic-tac-toe passing sequence with Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk by one-timing a laser of a shot from the slot straight past Hill, who had lost his paddle, to make it 2-1 at 12:47.
