Confident Golden Knights 'know what's at stake' in Game 4 - ESPN

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Vegas Golden Knights were minutes away from taking Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday before the Florida Panthers capped a furious rally late in regulation to force overtime and ultimately dump Vegas 3-2.

A win would have given the Golden Knights a 3-0 stranglehold on the series and put them one win away from the first Cup victory in franchise history.

Instead, the Panthers cut their deficit in half ahead of Game 4 on Saturday. Despite the setback, Vegas still believes it is firmly in the Cup Final driver's seat.

«Yeah, I think so,» Brayden McNabb said Friday of the Golden Knights being in control. «We've got Game 4 [coming up]. Go win Game 4, it's 3-1. That's a pretty big lead. They got a little momentum off winning the last game. It ends after that game. Both teams have a chance to regroup. We know what's at stake for Game 4 and it's a big game for us.»

Vegas fell behind early in Game 3 after Panthers' defenseman Brandon Montour opened the scoring. The Golden Knights used a pair of power-play goals from Mark Stone and Jonathan Marchessault to take a 2-1 advantage deep into the third period. Florida's net was empty when forward Matthew Tkachuk capitalized at 6-on-5 with three minutes remaining in regulation to even the score. Carter Verhaeghe acted as overtime hero with the game winner.

The missed opportunity at a third consecutive victory was tough to swallow for the Golden Knights. Forward William Karlsson admitted he didn't get to sleep until «3, 3:30» after leaving the rink. By Friday morning, though, Karlsson and his teammates were refreshed with renewed confidence.

«I think we've managed to stay composed throughout these playoffs,» Karlsson said. «I never expected it to go super