3 least impressive Florida Panthers from 4-1 loss to Vegas Golden Knights feat. Aleksandar Barkov 

Returning to the venue where they had to watch the Stanley Cup lifted at their expense isn't likely easy for the Florida Panthers, even though they emerged as champions the following year themselves.

The Panthers faced the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday night in a rematch of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, and the game turned out much in the same manner as that first Cup Final series Florida experienced since their Cinderella-esque run of 1996 that was halted against the Colorado Avalanche.

The Golden Knights defeated the Panthers by a 4-1 final score, improving their record to 31-15-4 while the Panthers fell to 29-19-3.

Just 5:26 into the first period, Brayden McNabb scored the game's first goal, putting the Golden Knights on the scoresheet first; they took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission. At the 5:40 mark of the game's middle frame, Vegas extended the lead to 2-0 thanks to Tanner Pearson's ninth goal of the season.

While the Panthers cut the Golden Knight's lead in half early in the third period when Anton Lundell tallied his 12th goal, Jack Eichel responded and restored the two-goal lead for Vegas with his 15th goal.

Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl added an empty-net goal with 29 seconds remaining in the third period, capping the scoring.

Spencer Knight made 22 saves in a losing effort for Florida, while Adin Hill was strong for Vegas with 31 saves.

3 least impressive Florida Panthers from 4-1 loss to Vegas Golden Knights

#1. Aleksandar Barkov

One of the best two-way players in the National Hockey League, Barkov is the captain, but was a no-show on the scoresheet against the Golden Knights.

Vegas neutralized Barkov, who managed only two shots while also tying for a team-worst -3 rating for the night.

#2. Aaron Ekblad

The longest-tenured defenseman for Florida, Eklbad wasn't at his best against the Golden Knights. He tied with Barkov tied for the team-worst -3 rating, and also was caught out of position multiple times, especially when Vegas landed on the scoreboard.

#3. Spencer Knight

Giving Sergei Bobrovsky a night off, Spencer Knight made his 18th start of the season for Florida and hoped to lead the defending champs to a win.

However, he finished the game with a subpar .880 save percentage and would like at least two of the Golden Knights goals back.