Theodore leads Knights over Panthers in shootout

Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore scored the only goal in the shootout in the Golden Knights' 6-5 win over the visiting Florida Panthers on Thursday. Theodore roofed a backhander over Florida goalie Roberto Luongo in the bottom of the second round. Vegas' Malcolm Subban, who has stopped all 16 shots he has faced in his shootout career, made all three saves.

Reilly Smith tallied two goals, Paul Stastny and Jon Merrill had a goal and an assist and Colin Miller also scored for the Golden Knights. Theodore had two helpers, and Subban made 32 saves.

Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and three assists, Mike Hoffman netted two markers and Aleksander Barkov had a goal and a helper. Aaron Ekblad also scored. Keith Yandle added two assists, and Luongo stopped 41 shots.

Vegas went up 1-0 at 3:09 on Stastny's goal off a draw in front of Luongo, but Florida took it from there. Hoffman tied it at 1 at 14:33 on the game's first power play when he wristed in a shot from the right circle, and he rifled in his second power-play marker on a one-timer from the same spot at 18:31.

Ekblad made it 3-1 when he took a pass from Huberdeau and scored his 12th just 28 seconds later. The assist was Huberdeau's third of the opening 20 minutes, tying the team record for points in a period. The two goals gave Hoffman a career-high 30 -- 13 on the man advantage -- and the right wing has posted 15 points in his last 14 games.

Smith, who had only one goal in his last 15 games, made it 3-2 when he tallied with a between-the-legs move as he tucked the puck past Luongo at 7:40 of the second period, and Merrill tied it 3-3 at 14:22. The Golden Knights added to the comeback when Miller blistered a shot from the point at 16:09 with the teams skating 4-on-4 to give Vegas a 4-3 lead, but Barkov shoveled in his 27th goal at 19:06 to knot it again.

Huberdeau made it 5-4 when he battled out front of Subban, fell to the ice and slid in a rebound for his 18th goal at 3:18 of the third period, but Smith tied it with his second. --Field Level Media