Vegas Golden Knights: Stone channels his inner Mahomes to deliver big

You need your big hitters to come up with the goods in key moments and Mark Stone certainly did that for the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.

In dire need of a win in order to finish a long road trip on a high, Stone delivered a five point night for the Vegas Golden Knights in a hugely impressive 7-2 win against the Florida Panthers.

Every team in all of the major sports will have a superstar that can turn the tide of a game almost single-handedly, and the Knights have that in Stone.

And he channeled his inner-Patrick Mahomes on Thursday at BB&T Center.

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Yes, we are going to stick with the football theme for now, but Stone must have been watching the heroics of Mahomes unfold during Super Bowl LIV in Miami on Sunday.

Because, and despite being shackled for the first three periods, Mahomes did what all great players do and that is to forget the bad that had come before and produce the goods when the chips are really down.

Mahomes deleted a tough three periods from his mind and proceeded to hurl his team on his back and propel them to ultimate glory and football mortality.

While a completely different set of circumstances, Stone did similar for the Vegas Golden Knights in Florida last night.

Although he was lights out from the first drop of the puck and didn’t have to overcome any particular adversity, Stone did lift his team on his back and lead them to a vital win.

Stone began his dominant night by getting on the board just a couple of minutes into the first period, eventually finishing with two goals and three assists for a five-point night.

It was the third five-point night of Stone’s career and also the second time he had achieved the feat for the Golden Knights after recording five points against the San Jose Sharks in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round last year.

Stone also became the first player in franchise history to record a five-point night in a regular season game, but there was more to the forward’s game than just offensive prowess.

He led by example throughout and dove through brick walls in order to will Vegas to what was a huge win, even more so when you consider that all the teams mired in a race for the Pacific Division all lost on Thursday.

Stone battled, put his body on the line and gave every ounce of energy he had to ensure he gave his team the best possible chance to win, resulting in an absolute explosive outburst as Vegas recorded the most goals in a single game all season.

He executed one mind-boggling play in the second period when he did his best Superman impression to break up a Florida two-on-one, perhaps best epitomizing who Mark Stone is as a player.

The elite two-way forward also displayed his leadership abilities by regularly passing up the opportunity to complete his hat trick, instead opting to feed teammates for the easier goal.

It was just a monster night by Stone who now leads Vegas in points with 53 (20 goals, 33 assists), and his sheer will to win inspired arguably the Golden Knights’ best performance of the year.

Just as Patrick Mahomes did for the Kansas City Chiefs against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV on Sunday, Mark Stone came up big for the Vegas Golden Knights when they needed him the most.

And, if he can muster up a few more nights similar to the one he enjoyed on Thursday, then Stone and the Golden Knights could be having their own championship parade in June.