Panthers trying to ride momentum shift

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers are coming off Thursday’s 3-2 overtime victory in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, and a dramatic, comeback win can do a lot to swing the momentum of a series, which stands at 2-1 going into Game 4 at home on Saturday.

However, through two games, Vegas was rolling, even knocking Conn

Smythe Trophy contender Sergei Bobrovsky out of the game on Monday.

History is on the Golden Knights’ side, too. Teams in the Stanley Cup Final that go up 2-0 in a series end up winning the series 90.6 percent (48-5) of the time. And when the home team wins its first two games, that record rises to 92.7 percent (38-3).

But the way these playoffs have gone for the Panthers, it makes no sense to count them out.

So many people did when the Panthers were down 3-1 in the opening series against the Boston Bruins before the momentum shifted.

“Emotionally, supercharged, momentum (is) for sure a little bit there with us,” center Eric Staal said Friday. “But also, it’s a reset. We get today to recover and get our minds right for tomorrow, because nothing else matters behind tomorrow when we start the game.”

Florida certainly didn’t sprint its way to victory in Game 3. It was a drag into the muck without a high volume of shots hitting either net until Matthew Tkachuk tied it late and Carter Verhaeghe ended it in overtime.

“I thought last night we did a lot better job maybe having our stick on the puck a little bit more and maybe not going out of our way to get a hit,” center Nick Cousins said. “I think when you do that, you have more energy to create offense.”

Patrick Smith/Getty Images Vegas’ Michael Amadio, left, and Florida’s Marc Staal battle for the puck during Thursday’s Game 3.