RECAP: Panthers 3, Golden Knights 2

LAS VEGAS – Flying back on a win.

Capping off their West Coast road trip on a high note, the Florida Panthers defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 on Monday at T-Mobile Arena to improve to 8-7-1 on the season and 2-2-0 on the road trip.

Earning his 437th career win with a 30 save performance, Sergei Bobrovsky is now tied with Jacques Plante for ninth place on the NHL’s all-time wins list.

“A big win for us and something we can bring with us,” Jesper Boqvist said after the game.

Kick-starting the game with some intensity, Donovan Sebrango and Jeremy Lauzon dropped the gloves just over two minutes into the game.

Breaking the ice and scoring the lone goal of the period, Boqvist caught, turned, and buried a pass from Sebrango at 14:47 to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

Picking up the assist, Sebrango recorded his first career NHL point.

“It's always fun to get a couple points and your first ones you always remember.”

An offensive first, the teams combined for 23 shots in the opening 20 minutes (13-10 Vegas).

With their backs against the wall in the second period, while facing a five-on-three man-advantage for Vegas for 1:11, the Panthers penalty kill stepped up and didn’t allow any damage.

“That was a huge kill,” Gustav Forsling said of the defensive effort. “We were ready from the start, didn’t give them much and got some energy out of that.”

Staying red-hot, Brad Marchand struck again.

Extending his goal streak to five games and point streak to eight, Marchand found the back of the net on a backhand at 10:54.

Per NHL Stats, it is the third time in his career of hitting the five-game goal streak and first since the 2015-16 season.

“It's almost more fun to watch the guys who haven't played here or who didn't see it in the playoffs, react to that,” said head coach Paul Maurice. “He's special in tight. His hands are so quick.”

Getting the Golden Knights on the board early into the third, Tomas Hertl put in a rebound at 1:25.

Answering back shortly after on the power play, Sam Reinhart redirected a shot from Seth Jones by Carl Lindbom at 4:54.

With the goal on the man-advantage, Reinhart collected his eighth of the season and second power play goal of the year.

Countering for Vegas, Ivan Barbashev brought the Golden Knights back within one at 9:04, but that’s as close as they would get.

Fending off a late effort from Vegas, the Panthers held on to close out their road trip with a 3-2 win on Monday night.

“It's going to be a lot of fun playing in front of our fans and our building,” said Boqvist. “We can't wait.”

THEY SAID IT

“He's (Sebrango) been unreal, not just tonight, the other games too. I'm very happy for him and he's really contributing well.” – Gustav Forsling

“First goal in every game is huge, so it was nice to get that one for sure.” – Jesper Boqvist

CATS STATS

- Evan Rodrigues led the team with four shots

- Sam Bennett won 64.3% of his faceoffs

- Luke Kunin and Mackie Samoskevich each had three hits

- Gustav Forsling played a team high 24:14

- Sergei Bobrovsky made seven high-danger saves

WHAT’S NEXT?

Back home.

The Panthers will be back at Amerant Bank Arena for a five-game homestand, starting with the Washington Capitals on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.