from Jesse Granger of The Athletic,

The Golden Knights were so close they could almost taste it. They were only 133 seconds away from a 3-0 series lead that would’ve put them comfortably in the driver’s seat in the Stanley Cup Final.

Instead, Matthew Tkachuk added to his rapidly growing list of timely goals, and Carter Verhaeghe added to his overtime winners, and we have a series on our hands. The Panthers held serve on their home ice Thursday with a 3-2 win to close the series gap to 2-1, and the Golden Knights must regroup after their first loss of the championship series.

The way it ended could’ve been jarring for Vegas, but the mood in the dressing room following the loss suggested the opposite. Captain Mark Stone stood in front of his stall, calmly and confidently explaining where he felt the team could’ve been better.

“We didn’t capitalize on chances,” he said. “I think we were playing a really good five-on-five game there. Weren’t really capitalizing on our chances. Overall, I thought we were playing a really solid game. … Kind of sat back a little bit, but (we have to) regroup and get ready for Game 4.”...

“Nobody says it was going to be easy,” said Jack Eichel, who added to his team-record 23 points this postseason with a gorgeous saucer pass to set up Jonathan Marchessault’s second-period goal. “You never want to blow a lead, but give them credit. They make a play and here we are, moving on.”

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