Suddenly hot power play powering Vegas

Bruce Cassidy acknowledged between Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup final that his Vegas Golden Knights’ power play has been hit or miss all season.

It’s hitting now like players in a high-stakes game of blackjack — and has Vegas two wins from the Stanley Cup.

The Golden Knights got two more power-play goals Monday in their 7-2 rout of the Florida Panthers in Game 2, with Jonathan Marchessault cashing in for his team-record 11th goal of the playoffs and Brett Howden adding another.

Dating to the Western Conference final-clinching victory against Dallas, Vegas has scored on the power play in three consecutive games for the first time since late December.

Of all the things that powered the Golden Knights through the first three rounds, the power play was not chief among them. They scored just 10 times on 54 opportunities, an 18.5 per cent success rate that was ninth-best of the 16 teams that qualified for the playoffs.

The Golden Knights’ 50 goals at five-on-five entering the final were by far the most of anyone this postseason.

There’s still plenty where that came from: Alec Martinez, Nicolas Roy and Howden all scored at even strength, chasing Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky midway through Game 2, and the Golden Knights added two more five-onfive goalsin the third against Alex Lyon, another one from Marchessault, giving him 12, and one from Michael Amadio.

The series shifts to Florida for Games 3 and 4 on Thursday and Saturday.