Vegas rally from early deficit to defeat Panthers, 5-2

By the sixth minute of the game Sunday night in Las Vegas, the visiting Florida Panthers held a 2-0 lead on goals from Radim Vrbata and Mike Matheson.

From there, it was all Golden Knights as they rallied for a 5-2 win in the first meeting with the Panthers for their former head coach and now Vegas bench boss, Gerard Gallant who was asked about any emotions tied to the game.

“No, not really,” Gallant said. “I just coached another game. It wasn’t much fun early when they went up 2-0. I thought it was a sloppy game the first half of the game, and after that I thought we played really well.”

Erik Haula scored the game-winner when he broke a 2-2 tie in the third period.

“I don’t think either team was creating a lot the first two periods. I thought it was a lot of neutral zone play. There wasn’t a lot of open-ice play. I wasn’t really happy with our play after two. For me, I thought we had a great third period, but for the first two, we were just fair,” Gallant said after the win.

Colin Miller, Nate Schmidt, Jonathan Marchessault, and James Neal added goals for the Knights who moved into a first place tie in the Pacific Division with the Los Angeles Kings.

“It’s great. You always want to beat your old team. Especially for me, (Reilly Smith, Gallant, assistant coach Mike Kelly) … it’s our old team and we wanted to get that win,” Marchessault said. “We have a good thing going on right here.”

Malcolm Subban made 16 saves in the win.

“It’s like last game for [Marc-Andre Fleury against Pittsburgh],” Marchessault said. “We wanted that win so much for him. I think tonight was the same thing. We wanted this win for (Gallant). It just ended on such a terrible note [in Florida]. I think he’s feeling pretty happy right now.”

[WATCH: All Panthers vs. Golden Knights highlights]

James Reimer made 35 saves in the loss.

“[Vegas] is an honest hockey team,” Reimer said. “They come and they work hard and they’re honest. There is nothing special to their game. They’re just, right now, a group that’s working really hard and really well together.”

The Panthers dropped to 12-16-5 on the season.

“Our third period was probably, obviously, the most disappointing period for me in a long time, maybe the season. I thought that was uncharacteristic of our team. We’re usually a team that battles to the end and plays hard win or lose,” Florida head coach Bob Boughner said after the Panthers’ collapsed after the first period.