Golden Knights end trip with rout of Florida Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Golden Knights’ season-long stretch of eight consecutive road games ended Thursday. But they might want to petition the NHL for a ninth.

The Knights capped an impressive four-game trip after their bye week by drubbing the Florida Panthers 7-2 at BB&T Center. The team set a season high in goals, right wing Mark Stone tied a career best with five points and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury took sole possession of fifth place on the all-time wins list with 460.

The Panthers tied the game at 2 with 8:08 left in the second period, but left wing Max Pacioretty scored 26 seconds later. The Knights then scored four third-period goals.

They finished their four-game trip 3-1 and improved to 4-2-1 under coach Peter DeBoer.

“I think we got our jam back, you know?” Stone said. “The way these guys played the first year with that intensity. We kind of slacked a little bit, and obviously decisions that not everybody liked happened. But that’s kind of the way this league works. If you get complacent, changes happen that maybe you don’t like.”

The Knights chased Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky with 11:07 remaining after applying relentless pressure. They outshot Florida 39-25, outhit them 22-16 and drew five penalties.

Stone’s spectacular game led the way. He scored two goals, giving him 20 for the sixth consecutive season, and had three assists. His five points tied the career high he set with the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 6, 2018, against the New Jersey Devils.

Pacioretty (two goals, one assist), defensemen Shea Theodore (one goal, one assist) and Nate Schmidt (one goal, one assist), and centers Paul Stastny (two assists) and Chandler Stephenson (two assists) also had multipoint games for the Knights.

Fleury made 23 saves to improve to 21-13-4. It was an impressive team effort, and the group celebrated by blasting the 2007 T-Pain hit “Buy U a Drank” in the locker room.

“Everybody really played well,” left wing Jonathan Marchessault said. “We rolled four lines. All D (were) going. (Fleury) made some big saves at big moments. Everybody’s playing their best hockey at (this) time of the year, and we need to keep that going.”

Here are three things that stood out in the win:

1. Rolling Stone

DeBoer’s first word on Stone’s performance was “Wow.”

The 27-year-old did just about everything for the Knights. He scored the team’s first two goals. He passed well. He even showed off his defensive chops, sliding to break up a short-handed scoring chance in the second period.

“Just phenomenal,” Pacioretty said. “Took the team on his back. Two great goals to start it all. Just went beast mode. Not much else you can say.”

2. Light goes on?

The Knights’ power play has struggled under DeBoer, but Thursday gave the team some hope. Marchessault scored with a one-timer on the man advantage 8:53 into the third period, snapping an 0-for-10 drought for the team.

The Knights are 3-for-20 on the power play under DeBoer.

“We righted a lot of wrongs,” DeBoer said. “There were some guys that were snakebit, the power play wasn’t sharp. Hopefully that carries into the next game.”

3. Penalty-shot master

The Panthers received a rare penalty shot 6:40 into the second period when left wing Brett Connolly was dragged to the ice from behind by left wing William Carrier.

Fleury stopped Connolly’s subsequent attempt for the 20th penalty-shot save of his career. That’s the second-most all time behind Roberto Luongo (29), according to the NHL.

Marc-Andre Fleury's 20 penalty-shot saves are the second-most by any goaltender since the stat officially began being tracked in 1934-35. #NHLStats https://t.co/WYl3MMpvmV pic.twitter.com/CjNjsG1rO2

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 7, 2020