After pulling off three consecutive upsets in the NHL playoffs, the Florida Panthers appear to have met their match in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Vegas Golden Knights won the first two games of the series in convincing fashion to bring a 2-0 lead to the FLA Live Arena on Thursday. Florida isn’t on the brink of elimination just yet, but going down 3-0 to the Western Conference heavyweight would pretty much be a death sentence.
“We’ve approached every game in the playoffs the same way. We just try to take it — like everyone says — one at a time,” Panthers veteran Marc Staal said, according to the Canadian Press. “But our backs are against the wall, obviously. We’re down by two. But we’re coming home. Love our team, love our resilience. We’re going to go out and give our best effort and play our best game tomorrow and go from there.”
Despite his struggles so far in this series — and after getting chased in Game 2 — Florida will stick with Sergei Bobrovsky in net on Thursday. Bobrovsky entered the Stanley Cup Final as the favorite for the Conn Smythe Trophy and will need to get back to his dominant ways to get his team back on track.
“We never lose hope in this room,” Florida forward Ryan Lomberg said. “Obviously, they’re a good team. They got here for a reason. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. It’s kind of the theme of our whole year is we make it tough. Whether we wanted it this way or not, it’s this way, so we’ve got to play the hand we’re dealt now.”
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Thursday’s game, and how you can follow along with the action.
How to watch Panthers at Golden Knights
Who: No. 1-seeded Vegas Golden Knights at No. 8-seeded Florida Panthers
What: Stanley Cup Final, Game 3 (Vegas leads series 2-0)
Where: FLA Live Arena (Sunrise, Florida)
When: 8:00 pm ET Thursday
TV: TNT | SN, CBC, TVAS
Live updates: Follow the stats with Yahoo Sports