The Vegas Golden Knights were desperate to avoid a Game 3 scenario of the Stanley Cup Finals in which the Florida Panthers came from behind to win in overtime. In the fourth duel, the ending was different.
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But the stress level on the Nevada team was very high. Even more so when defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was penalized for delaying the game with 17.4 seconds left in the third period.
“It wasn’t fun,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game, NHL.com reported.
“It was hard for Petro. He was just trying to make the right play to clear the puck.”
“We’re lucky he was just there [17,4] Seconds. I said “lucky,” but “happy” is probably a better word. We were glad that the two minutes were not completed.”
Thus, the Golden Knights had to defend with two fewer men while Sergey Bobrovsky was replaced by a sixth player.
“Even if you tell yourself to keep calm, it’s very difficult,” defenseman Zack Whitecloud said in a script he wrote for NHL.com. You try not to panic when the stick breaks. And I think Nicolas Roy’s wand is broken too. I didn’t know that, then I found out.
“We had an unlucky penalty, but it happened. That’s hockey.”
The Knights held on and are one small but big win away from lifting the Stanley Cup.
This could happen next Tuesday.
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