Verhaeghe tightens Final with another OT goal

Good morning and happy Friday, June 9th.

While the Hockey Recap fam has been pretty impressive predicting winners this postseason, Tuesday’s poll wasn’t our finest hour as 60% of participants predicted the Golden Knights would win game 3. But we’ll keep that between us. 😬

Quick poll with the offseason right around the corner…

Today’s lineup:

• 🎯 Verhaeghe with another OT snipe

• 🏆 King Clancy Trophy finalists announced

• 🔄 Blue Jackets acquire Provorov in 3-way trade

• 👇 And a lot more…

Verhaeghe tightens Final with another OT goal

When the Florida Panthers desperately needed a win in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, they turned to the players who have delivered the heroics for the past two months.

Matthew Tkachuk. Sergei Bobrovsky. Carter Verhaeghe.

Verhaeghe scored at 4:27 of overtime after Tkachuk and Bobrovsky got the Panthers there to give the Floridians a 3-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Vegas holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Game 4 scheduled for Saturday in Sunrise, Florida.

Tkachuk had tied the game on a goal with 2:13 left in regulation and Bobrovsky collected 25 saves in this tight game.

The Panthers are the third team in NHL history to win seven consecutive overtime games in a single postseason.

Verhaeghe is the first player in NHL history to have multiple overtime goals in consecutive playoff seasons. He also scored in OT in Game 7 in the first round against the Boston Bruins and also had a pair of overtime tallies in the 2022 playoffs.

Joe Sakic (1996 and 2004) and Esa Tikkanen (1991 and 1997) are the only NHLers to record multiple overtime goals in non-consecutive playoff years.

Florida coach Paul Maurice appreciates playoff overtime as much as Verhaeghe does. During his career as an NHL coach, Maurice is 19-7.

Jonathan Marchessault scored for Vegas, giving him four goals in the first three games of the series.

This the 24th consecutive year that the Stanley Cup Final will go at least five games. The 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings are the last team to sweep a Stanley Cup Final.