Knights look for strong end to road trip against champion Panthers

The Golden Knights’ first road trip of the season hasn’t gone as planned.

Two two-minute stretches turned a positive start into a deflating East Coast swing in a matter of days. Look no further than Thursday’s 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, as a win turned into a defeat in a matter of 2:22.

The good news for the Knights is it shouldn’t be difficult to be dialed in for a 60-minute effort Saturday against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

They had to endure that all of last season. It’s the Knights’ turn to see what that feels like on the other side.

The Knights (3-2-0) have a chance to end the road trip on a high note when they face the Florida Panthers (3-2-1) at 3 p.m. at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida. It’s a matchup of the past two Stanley Cup champions and a rematch of the 2023 final that the Knights won in five games.

The Panthers’ trajectory to the top of the NHL has been a wild one.

They won the Presidents’ Trophy three seasons ago with a 122-point campaign. That run ended suddenly with a second-round sweep at the hands of the Lightning.

Florida responded by cleaning house. Paul Maurice was named coach, and forward Matthew Tkachuk was brought in from Calgary in exchange for franchise cornerstones in forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar.

The Panthers took a dip from their record season the following year and finished eighth in the Eastern Conference. That began a Cinderella-like run, with the Panthers rallying from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Boston Bruins, then winning eight of nine in the next two rounds to meet the Knights in the final.

The Knights ran roughshod through the Panthers en route to their first championship, outscoring them 26-12, including a 9-3 rout in the clincher.

Florida was no longer the feel-good story. The Panthers returned to the final last season and took a 3-0 lead on the Edmonton Oilers, only to be outscored 18-5 in the next three games to set up a Game 7 that the Panthers won 2-1 to claim their first title.

Opportunity for Knights

Positivity following the Knights’ 3-0-0 start has gone by the wayside for the moment.

Similar stretches flipped the past two games completely. On Tuesday, three straight tripping penalties allowed the Washington Capitals to break through in a 4-2 loss. Neutral zone play in the final minutes led to the Knights’ collapse in Tampa.

“I think we have an idea now the areas that we need to get better on,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We protected leads well at home, so hopefully this is a one-off. It’s happened on the road more than it should have.”

The Knights have a chance to offset all of that against a Panthers team that is missing some top players. Florida captain Aleksander Barkov (lower body) is out for at least another week, while Tkachuk (illness) is not expected back until next week.

Right wing Sam Reinhart has provided the scoring punch in their absence with four goals and five assists through six games.

Redemption

Even with Barkov and Tkachuk out, it’s still the same Panthers team that took it to the Knights twice last season — winning 4-2 in Sunrise on Dec. 23, then 4-1 at T-Mobile Arena on Jan. 4.

Florida was the more physical team, with a 39-25 edge in hits the first meeting and 34-20 in the second. Hits don’t determine the outcome of games, but the Panthers’ physicality caught the Knights at one of their low points last season, a stretch in which they lost nine of 13 games from Dec. 15 to Jan. 13.

A matchup in mid-October is different than one in mid-December or early January.

The Knights are not a finished product. Their top line of center Jack Eichel (10 points), captain Mark Stone (nine points) and left wing Ivan Barbashev (eight points) is still carrying the offense as the other lines try to get going.

The Knights would love a 60-minute effort to cap off what’s been a disappointing road trip. They were on their way to that Thursday. A lapse like that again, no matter who’s in Florida’s lineup, could be costly.

“We were playing a good game (Thursday). We have to find ways to finish the game,” Stone said. “You have to bear down and get the two points.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.