Florida Panthers at Vegas Golden Knights

Golden Knights open homestand with 4-1 victory over defending champion Panthers

The Golden Knights came in losers of seven of their last nine and got a much-needed victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions to open their three-game homestand.

Brayden McNabb, Jack Eichel and Tomas Hertl also scored for Vegas, and Nic Roy had three assists. Anton Lundell scored for Florida, and Spencer Knight stopped 22 shots.

The Panthers were playing their fourth road game in six nights and were on the second leg of a back-to-back after beating San Jose 7-2 on Saturday night.

The Golden Knights reclaimed sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division, moving a point in front of Edmonton.

Takeaways Florida: The Panthers had a chance to reclaim the top spot in the Atlantic Division, but remain a point back of Toronto.

Vegas: Just before the game, the Golden Knights announced defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was withdrawing from the 4 Nations Faceoff. Pietrangelo played 24:22 against the Panthers.

Key moment With Vegas defenseman Nic Hague in the penalty box for slashing early in the third period, and the Knights up by one goal, Florida failed to capitalize on the power play against the league’s 21st-ranked penalty kill. The Panthers came into the game with the third-best road power play.

Key stat Brett Howden played in his 400th career game.

Up next Florida opens a three-game homestand with Los Angeles on Wednesday night. The Golden Knights host Dallas on Tuesday night.

Series tied 1-1