By CNN
—
The Vegas Golden Knights scored early and often in a dominant offensive display in Game 2, defeating the Florida Panthers 7-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup on Monday at T-Mobile Arena.
The offensive game of the Golden Knights has been irrepressible so far in the NHL’s season showcase and records are tumbling as a result.
Nine different goal scorers have tallied a goal for the Knights in the final, setting the record for the most by a team in the opening two contests of a final in NHL history. The 12 goals through the opening two games also ties an NHL record.
Golden Knights star – and former Florida Panther – Jonathan Marchessault continued his scoring tear on Monday with a two-goal performance in Game 2. The 32-year-old tallied the opening score of the game for the Golden Knights, burying a shot from the circle for the power-play goal.
He would then net his second of the game in the third period to put the Golden Knights up 5-2 in what was an all-but-secured victory at that point.
After failing to score in the Golden Knights first five postseason games, Marchessault now has 12 goals in the team’s last 12 fixtures, setting a franchise record for most in a single postseason. The right-winger also extended his point streak to seven straight games to tie for the longest point streak in the playoffs in Golden Knights history.
Brett Howden also scored twice for Vegas, with his second putting the Golden Knights ahead 4-0 and forcing the Panthers to pull goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky. Meanwhile, Alec Martinez, Nicolas Roy and Michael Amadio added one goal each in the blowout victory.
Speaking after the game, Marchessault gave credit to the Vegas team’s setup.
“I mean part of our game plan, we know we have depth, we know if we roll four lanes and get good forecheck, we’ll get rewarded and topping that off I think our discipline has been unbelievable,” Marchessault told reporters. “They wanted to set the tone with like, being undisciplined like Game 1 and we set the tone back.
“It was scoring that first goal there, so I think it’s all in our honor and we’ve done a great job so far. But I mean, we’re still pretty far from our goal there.”
With the victory, the Golden Knights are now two wins away from claiming the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.
According to the NHL, teams with a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven hold a series record of 347-55 (.863). Teams with a 2-0 series lead in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup final have gone on to hoist the cup 90.6% of the time (48-5).
Game 3 is on Thursday at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida with the Panthers looking to get a game back in the series.
