3 takeaways from Knights’ loss: Offense never arrives against Panthers

The Golden Knights’ high-powered offense hit a wall for the first time this season.

The highest-scoring team in the NHL registered only 17 shots and wore down in their first game in four days, losing 3-0 to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday.

It’s the first regulation loss for the Knights (5-1-2) after opening the season with a seven-game point streak.

They entered their three-game road trip winners of four straight, as well.

“We weren’t good enough,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We weren’t competitive enough. We didn’t execute well enough. We just didn’t make any plays with the puck tonight.”

Goaltender Akira Schmid made 22 saves and gave his team more than enough chances to draw even. Schmid stopped 18 of 19 shots through two periods. The lone goal was Florida’s Sam Reinhart getting behind the defense and beating Schmid glove side at 17:19 of the first.

But the Knights had no answer offensively. Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves for his 50th career shutout.

The Knights entered Saturday with a league-high average of 4.29 goals per game.

“We knew what they were going to do and we weren’t prepared for a full 60 (minutes),” defenseman Brayden McNabb said.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

1. Schmid stands alone

It’s difficult to win most nights when the goaltender is the team’s best player.

Schmid did all he could to give his teammates a chance. His best save came in the second period — a blocker save on Evan Rodrigues after an 80-second shift following a penalty kill.

“He was great. Calm, cool, collected,” McNabb said. “Made some big-time saves, especially in the second period.”

It was Schmid’s first regulation loss as a member of the Knights. He went 6-0-1 in his first seven appearances while starting 4-0 this season. He’s going to get the bulk of the starts moving forward with starting goaltender Adin Hill week to week with a lower-body injury.

The two goals against in the third were hardly Schmid’s fault.

A loose puck off a scramble in front found its way to former Knights center Cole Schwindt at 3:29, and left wing A.J. Greer corralled a rebound and wrapped it around Schmid at 10:04.

“He’s been great for us all year,” left wing Reilly Smith said. “He’s really calm in the net and everyone has a lot of faith in him.”

2. Florida’s dominance continues

The battle between the last two Stanley Cup champions has been one-sided since the Knights won their title in 2023.

Florida has won four of the last five meetings since the Knights finished the five-game series two years ago.

It’s not just recent memory. The Knights haven’t found any success in Amerant Bank Arena, dropping to 1-6-1 all-time, excluding the postseason.

“We don’t always play well in this building, for whatever reason,” Cassidy said.

The Panthers (5-5-0) are staying above water while being decimated with injuries. Captain Aleksander Barkov (lower body) is out for the entire regular season, and leading scorer Matthew Tkachuk (groin) is out until December.

Florida still has a formula that works against the Knights, no matter who’s in the lineup.

“They just played a playoff-style game,” Smith said.

3. Short memory

The Knights won’t have a lot of time to put this to the side. They play the second leg of a back-to-back Sunday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tampa Bay defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 on Saturday at home.

It’s expected to be the NHL debut for goaltender Carl Lindbom, who was recalled from the Silver Knights in light of Hill’s injury.

Lindbom was 19-15-3 with a .914 save percentage and 2.56 goals against in 38 games with Henderson.

“It’s a short memory to this,” Smith said. “Go into tomorrow and try to win that game.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.