FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) 鈥 The sour taste in the aftermath of their Stanley Cup Final Game 3 loss is gone for the Vegas Golden Knights, who quickly moved on to enjoying the nearby ocean breeze.
They're breathing easily in the series, knowing fully they've been the better team so far. Taking a day away off the ice and away from the rink 鈥 but not too far away from hockey on this big a stage 鈥 the Golden Knights are calm, cool and confident going into Game 4 Saturday night with another chance to move toward hoisting the Cup.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to change a lot. We don鈥檛 need to,鈥 said from his team's beachfront hotel Friday morning. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to beat ourselves up over (Game 3). We鈥檙e going to do what we鈥檝e always done. We鈥檙e going to work to get better and keep growing our game and hopefully be better.鈥
The Golden Knights have only lost consecutive games once when they were up 3-0 on Dallas in the Western Conference final. What followed was their
That's still the blueprint, which could come in handy since that was also a road game. But there are still elements of what Vegas is doing that give players confidence, everything from going and a perfect 12 of 12 on the penalty kill to solving Sergei Bobrovsky early and even Ivan Barbashev hitting the post late in the third period Thursday.
"We certainly feel the first three games there鈥檚 been way more good than bad," Cassidy said. 鈥淭he guys know what鈥檚 at stake. It鈥檒l be predominantly what we鈥檝e been doing, 90 per cent of how we want to play.鈥
The other 10 percent, the adjustments that make up the chess match during any playoff series, is also easy to identify. Forward Keegan Kolesar, whose because of concussion protocol, pointed to the Golden Knights giving up three goals at even strength as an anomaly.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not like us,鈥 Kolesar said. "That鈥檚 something that we鈥檙e going to have to clean up. We鈥檙e not going to beat ourselves down on it. We know we鈥檒l be better from it next game, but there鈥檚 just little critiques that we can probably do to help ourselves out.鈥
They can also go back to making it a priority to create South Florida rush hour-like traffic in front of Bobrovsky, who in a major bounce back in Game 2, stopping 25 of 27 shots.
Bobrovsky's brilliance is just one reason the Panthers are riding high after Carter Verhaeghe's goal got them back in the series and made them 7-0 in overtime this postseason. There's also Tkachuk's latest playoff heroics: setting up new dad Brandon Montour's goal early in Game 3, scoring with 2:17 left in regulation to tie it and screening to pave the way for Verhaeghe to find the net.
Coach Paul Maurice said the win gave his team a chance, and that鈥檚 enough for him right now. He shook off any notion the Panthers might have found control of the series 鈥 saying they didn鈥檛 even feel that way when they were on the way to in five games and
鈥淭he picture that just came into my head was a frog reaching up and choking an alligator or something, 鈥業鈥檝e got him where I want him,鈥欌 Maurice said. 鈥淣o, we鈥檙e scratching and clawing shift by shift. We鈥檙e not looking for control.鈥
Veteran Vegas defenceman Brayden McNabb agreed with the notion that he and his teammates have control after establishing it earlier in the series.
鈥淕o win Game 4, it鈥檚 3-1: That鈥檚 a pretty big lead,鈥 McNabb said. 鈥淭hey got a little momentum off winning last game. It ends after the game. Both teams have a chance to regroup. We know what鈥檚 at stake for Game 4, and it鈥檚 a big game for us.鈥
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AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Sunrise, Florida, contributed to this report.
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