Brandon Montour of the Panthers ends the goalscoring drought after the birth of his son: ‘I should have had twins’
Brandon Montour has some of this new dad luck.
The Panthers defenseman broke a 10-game drought on Thursday night, putting Florida on the board early in a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights – a few days after the birth of his son, Kai.
Coach Paul Maurice, in a second period interview on the bench with TNT’s Jackie Redmond, appreciated the effort – and maybe could have used a little more too.
“Are you ready to give baby Kai the unofficial help on Brandon Montour’s goal?” Redmond asked.
“He should have had twins,” Maurice replied, mocking his team’s need for more attacking production.
Kai Montour’s magic worked its way onto the Florida bench, helping the Panthers find a way to do it thanks to a game-winning goal from Matthew Tkachuk with 2:13 left in regulation, and a snipe from Carter Verhaeghe in overtime –– securing the team. first Stanley Cup Final win in franchise history.
This capped off the whole week of Patriarch Montour.
Kai was due to arrive on June 14 but clearly had other plans.
Ryian, Montour’s wife, gave birth in Game 1 of the series while the defenseman was playing in Vegas against the Golden Knights.
After the 5-2 loss, Montour flew to Florida, arrived just in time for the birth, and returned to Vegas hours after Kai arrived to prepare for Game 2.
Fast forward to Game 3 and the Panthers, facing an eventual 3-0 hole, got a spark off Montour’s tally just over four minutes into the first quarter.
It was clear Montour’s goal meant more than just putting his side on the board in an important game.
“I feel like the last little piece I obviously didn’t put in the net, but I’m creating chances, making plays,” Montour said after the 3-2 win. “Nice to have this one and see it come in. It’s for my little boy.”
Florida has a chance to tie the series with Vegas on Saturday at Sunrise – we’ll see if baby Kai has any more assists to give.
