Golden Knights roll, go up 2

Vegas Golden Knights right wing Jonathan Marchessault celebrates his goal against the Florida Panthers during Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday in Las Vegas.

NHL

LAS VEGAS — Jonathan Marchessault scored twice and started an early blitz that chased the NHL's hottest postseason goalie, and the Vegas Golden Knights seized control of the Stanley Cup Final with a 7-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 2 on Monday night.

Adin Hill continued his stellar play in net with 29 saves for the Golden Knights, who grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

"We finished some plays," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "It's a good performance for us. Our guys were ready to play."

Marchessault also had an assist to finish with three points. His 12 postseason goals set a Golden Knights record, with all coming after the first round.

Brett Howden scored twice for the Knights, who also got goals from Alec Martinez, Nicolas Roy and Michael Amadio. Six players had at least two points for Vegas, all 18 Knights skaters were on the ice for even-strength goals and their nine goal scorers through the first two games are a Stanley Cup Final record. The Knights' seven goals tied a franchise mark for a playoff game.

It was too much for Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who was removed 7:10 into the second period down 4-0. It was the fifth time in 12 games the Knights have chased the opposing goalie.

"We can be a little better in front of our goaltender," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "I got him out to keep him rested."

Matthew Tkachuk and Anton Lundell scored for Florida.

Teams that take a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final are 31-3 in the expansion era. The Panthers will try to buck history beginning with Game 3 on Thursday in Sunrise, Florida.

Hill once again brought his feistiness as well as his A-game. He stopped Carter Verhaeghe on a breakaway in the first, and later that period hit Tkachuk, who was in his net, with his blocker and then slashed him with his stick.

"He's been unreal for us," Vegas forward William Carrier said. "He's been unbelievable."

The Knights were dominant early, taking a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Marchessault and Martinez. It was Vegas' third game in a row with a power-play goal, its first such stretch since Christmas week.

The Panthers lost their biggest, toughest defenseman early in the game when Radko Gudas was injured on a hit by Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev. Gudas left 6:39 in and did not return.

That was one of several big hits by Barbashev, the Golden Knights' biggest trade-deadline acquisition, a Stanley Cup champion with St. Louis in 2019. Barbashev broke the sternum of Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard during the playoffs last year, also on a clean hit.

Vegas had its own scare late in the second period when Jack Eichel was nailed in the right shoulder by Tkachuk. Eichel returned in the third and set up Marchessault's second goal for his second assist of the game.

"We did a good job managing momentum tonight," Eichel said. "And we got some timely goals."

The Hawks traveled to Portland, Oregon, for NXN, relying on the pack attack that had worked wonders all season. The return of senior Orrin Clark, who had missed several weeks due to a knee injury, helped build some confidence, too.

Clinger took first once again, with Johns in ninth and Parker in 20th. But the intrigue came outside the top 20. Equall was Bozeman's top finisher in 26th, followed by Hamilton (52nd), senior Riley Collins (56th), Clark (58th) and junior Leonard McComas (68th).

After the championship race was complete, meet officials corralled the top three teams for a ceremony to unveil the winners. The Hawks initially started to leave, thinking they missed the cut. Jermyn quickly ushered them back in.

When the results were announced — with Brentwood (Tennessee) in third and American Fork second — disbelief and overwhelming joy started to set in for Bozeman. Standing on that stage was "one of the most amazing moments of my career," Hamilton said.

"I don't think anyone even really gave us a shot," Jermyn said. "I think they kind of thought, 'Oh yeah, that'd be a top 10 team.' But when that was announced, just the elation among that team, seeing that come to fruition — that's something I'll never forget."

Hamilton raced at the Arcadia Invitational and the state meet the following track season, and began seriously considering his future. Colleges hadn't shown much interest in him to that point — even as the No. 2 runner on a national title team — with Hamilton making visits to a handful of schools that included Northern Arizona and MSU.

He said there was certainly a financial component, but Hamilton also realized that several of his high school rivals — including Great Falls CMR's Cooper West, Great Falls' Teagan Olson and Missoula Hellgate's Isaac Schmidt — were headed to MSU. The thought of combining forces was "super appealing," he said, along with continuing to train in Bozeman.

Hamilton committed to the Bobcats after the state cross country meet that fall in 2017. The Hawks once again captured a state title, led by Hamilton in second place.

Hamilton, who was later named the Gatorade Montana Boys Cross Country Player of the Year, also earned second at NXR and 11th at NXN, which finally caught the attention of college coaches. But by that point, it was too late.

That spring, Hamilton continued building momentum on the track with a state title in the 1,600 meters and a second-place finish in the 3,200 meters. Later, as a freshman at MSU, he placed 15th at the Big Sky Cross Country Championships and 52nd at the NCAA Mountain Regional.

He redshirted his first indoor season, when the idea of running the steeplechase was brought to him by MSU head coach Lyle Weese. Hamilton was caught off guard when Weese told him he could potentially win the conference meet that spring after only doing a few hurdle drills.

Weese, a four-time All-American steeplechase runner at MSU, said Hamilton possessed the "basic skill set" for the event and also picked up hurdle techniques rather quickly. Jermyn, who ran with Weese at MSU, figured Hamilton would at least try the event in college.

"(Weese has) great drills and great technique tips," Hamilton said. "So to be able to work on that all of my freshman year was very helpful."

When he got to the men's steeplechase final at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships in May 2019 in Missoula, Hamilton said he didn't really know what he was doing. But he relied on the newly formed technique and Weese's confidence in him to take first in 9:10.17. Hamilton became the first Big Sky men's steeplechase champion from MSU since Weese in 2003.

Weese said it was evident Hamilton brought high expectations to MSU. The win at the conference meet raised them even further.

"The steeplechase, obviously, there's a little more technique to it than the flat events," Weese said. "The more years you can do it, obviously the better you're going to be at it. So to win as a freshman was something that was quite spectacular. And then he kind of just took to that event right away."

It was also "a little unusual," Weese said, for Hamilton to immediately establish himself as a team leader. Hamilton attributes his leadership ability to participating in Boy Scouts growing up and being on teams throughout high school and college.

Teammates immediately point to that character trait. Perrin said Hamilton entered the program and "immediately raised the bar for everybody."

"Since I've gotten here, he's been the one who's been leading workouts, who's been keeping track of our rest time in between sets and reps," McManus added. "He's always pretty supportive during that time, just keeping us motivated, keeping us going."

After that freshman season, Hamilton continued to excel at MSU. He won three more Big Sky steeplechase titles and consistently qualified for national meets, most notably in 2020-21 when he made all three of the cross country, indoor and outdoor meets. He also competed in the 2021 Olympic Trials, which gave him the first indication he could run professionally.

But entering that level of competition was challenging.

"My first time getting to a new level was usually really hard for me," Hamilton said. "And that definitely can be (a struggle) to see all these people who are probably better than you and be like, 'Oh, do I belong here?'"

Hamilton said that's steadily improved with getting more races under his belt and calming his nerves before meets. One strategy he's used before is imagining his competition as pacers.

Over the past year, Hamilton has also developed a holistic approach to training in hopes of making the transition to professional running easier.

Hamilton's routine consists of getting at least nine hours of sleep each night, plus a nap on most days. He focuses on eating "clean proteins," eliminating most sugar or processed foods and staying hydrated. He's picked up yoga, journaling and meditation to help "keep my confidence up."

He also emphasizes recovery. That means eating some protein within 30 minutes post-workout, a "good, clean meal" after that, stretching and putting on compression pants. Hamilton wants to continue adding elements once he goes pro, including a sport psychologist and working even more on nutrition.

"Having him as an example for all of that has been really nice because he just does everything at the highest level," Perrin said. "And that's why he's always going to all the national meets and winning all these awards."

Added Taylor: "He pretty much does exactly what any good runner should do. So it's easy to just kind of follow him and mimic what he does and hopefully it leads to your own success."

Getting his body and mind right is only part of the equation. Hamilton has met with agents and shoe companies to figure out where he'll sign professionally. He's been using various people as a sounding board throughout the process, including Jermyn, Weese and MSU volunteer assistant Makenna Myler, who is a pro runner for Asics.

"I still don't really believe that so many companies are interested in me," Hamilton said. "I think I've gotten more interest in running professionally than I did running in college, which is crazy to see this dream that I had finally coming true."

Hamilton will end his time at MSU with program records in the men's indoor mile (3:52.99), 3,000 (7:43.28), 5,000 (13:34.45) and the outdoor 1,500 (3:37.51) and 5,000 (13:30.5). He helped lead the men's cross country team to nationals last season, and brought himself, Perrin and Taylor below four minutes in the indoor mile (converted for altitude) in February.

He also broke his program and conference record in the steeplechase at the NCAA West Prelims on May 26 (8:16.23). It's the second-fastest time in NCAA history and was briefly the world-leading time, before being surpassed by eight runners at the Rabat Diamond League meet on May 28. On Monday, Hamilton became the first Bobcat ever named to the Pre NCAAs watch list for The Bowerman, track and field's equivalent to the Heisman Trophy.

Costello called Hamilton's talent elite and said he's "in a class where there's nobody better."

"And if you look across the board, we've had some (elite talent at MSU) in a variety of different sports, but he's right up there with them," Costello added.

Jermyn hopes Montana residents can "understand how special this is" for Hamilton to compete at this level for his hometown program. It also reminds him of how much pride he had competing at MSU against bigger schools.

"I think that's really special and I hope he looks back — I mean, he will look back — and remember that for the rest of his life," Jermyn said. "And all of us fans, what a treat just to get to watch that and see that unfold."

It would be "icing on the cake," Jermyn added, for Hamilton to end his college career as a national champion — essentially the only thing missing from Hamilton's résumé.

To correct that, Hamilton said he hasn't changed much in his training, instead implementing a "gradual increase in everything." That's meant doubling tempo, doubling workouts (morning and evening sessions) and tweaking lifts in the weight room.

"Nothing crazy, nothing special, nothing new," Hamilton said. "But just more work and another year."

Hamilton is especially thankful for his MSU teammates who have "become a family" and Weese, who introduced him to the steeplechase and "potentially changed my running career forever."

"It takes a village for one person to succeed and for this whole team to succeed," Hamilton said. "There's so many people by my side, by our sides. Coaches, lift coaches, photographers, media, families. The amount of support that Bozeman has given is just amazing."

He'll get even more support during and after the NCAA men's steeplechase final Friday night in Austin. Hamilton said he might tweak his race plan from last year slightly, but the confidence is high and he's expecting a different result than the narrow misses in Eugene.

"I have thought about those races (from last season) a lot," Hamilton said. "I don't want to feel that way again."

Braden Shaw can be reached at [email protected] or 406582-2690. Follow him on Twitter @ ByBradenShaw

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