3 major takeaways from Florida Panthers’ 4-3 OT win over Vegas Golden Knights

The Florida Panthers hosted the Vegas Golden Knights at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Saturday night in a rematch of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final. While the stakes were limited to a pair of points in the standings rather than the iconic trophy, it was the Panthers who made the most of the evening with a 4-3 victory in overtime.

Gustav Forsling tallied the winning goal in the extra session for the Panthers, who improved to 4-2-1 on the season. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights fell to 3-2-1.

Tanner Pearson opened the scoring for the Golden Knights in the first period, the only goal of the opening frame. But early in the second period, Sam Reinhart remained red-hot with his fifth goal of the season by firing a shot past Ilya Samsonov from a sharp angle:

While Keegan Kolesar responded for Vegas, Sam Bennett knotted the score at 2-2 late in the period with a power play goal:

Both teams traded goals in the third period, setting up sudden-death overtime. With just 17 seconds remaining before a shootout, Forsling sent the home fans home happy with his second tally of the year after capitalizing on a slick cross-ice pass from Bennett:

Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves, while Samsonov had a much busier night with 45 saves on the 49 shots he faced.

What were the three biggest takeaways from Saturday night's Panthers overtime win over the visiting Golden Knights?

#3. The Panthers won despite being shorthanded

The Panthers were without key forwards Aleksander Barkov (lower-body injury) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness), while also missing Jonah Gadjovich. They were forced to play with 11 forwards and six defensemen, as they were unable to make a call-up from the American Hockey League owing to salary cap restraints.

#2. Sam Reinhart remained hot

After scoring a career-high 57 goals in 2023-24 and earning a hefty new eight-year contract, Reinhart has continued his scoring prowess into the new season. His second-period goal was his fifth in just seven games; he's also in the midst of a five-game point streak.

#1. The Panthers' penalty killing continued to be effective

While the Golden Knights enjoyed only one power play, the Panthers' penalty-killing streak climbed up to 17 consecutive successful kills. They've also allowed only two power-play goals in seven games.

The Panthers will continue their schedule when they host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday before heading out onto the road.