The Florida Panthers erased a two-goal third period deficit before falling 3-2 in a shootout to former head coach Joel Quenneville and the Anaheim Ducks at Amerant Bank Arena.
After a scoreless first period that saw the Panthers outshoot the Ducks 12-6, Anaheim burned Florida while a man down to open the scoring 9:59 into the second on their first shot of the frame.
Drew Helleson bounced the puck off the boards to Leo Carlsson, sending the young Swede and Troy Terry rushing up the ice. The Cats looked to be in good shape on the 2-on-2 situation, but when Carlsson dropped to Terry as they crisscrossed, both Seth Jones and Eetu Luostarinen went to him. Terry then sent a return pass to the unmarked Carlsson, who slammed the puck past Daniil Tarasov.
Penalties on Carter Verhaeghe and Niko Mikkola 26 seconds apart gave the Ducks a 5-on-3 and they cashed in at the 12:27 mark to go up by two.
Following a big save by Tarasov, Anaheim maintained possession, and after taking a pass from Carlsson, Jackson LaCombe faked a shot before crossing to Cutter Gauthier, who one-timed a shot home from the right circle.
The Panthers would break through with 8:48 remaining in regulation. While on the rush, Aaron Ekblad played the puck off the boards to himself to gain the zone, carrying further in before Eetu Luostarinen took control down low. Luostarinen centered back out to Mackie Samsokevich, and he slipped a backhand pass under Ryan Poehling’s stick to Anton Lundell. Lundell calmly gathered the puck and converted from close range to finally solve Lukas Dostal.
With time becoming a factor, Florida pulled Tarasov and manufactured the game-tying goal after Lundell won an offensive zone faceoff. Lundell drew the puck back to Verhaeghe, who exchanged passes with Mackie Samsokevich. After receiving the return feed, Verhaeghe sent it to the right point to Seth Jones, who snapped off a wrister that was brushed in by Sam Reinhart with 3:06 left on the clock.
The Panthers carried the play in overtime, but couldn’t get beat Dostal on its five shots to emerge victorious.
Carlsson and Reinhart were denied in the first round of the shootout while Terry and Lundell were successful in the second. A turtle-like approach worked for Mason McTavish to open the third and then Dostal slammed on the door on Evan Rodrigues to take the second point.
A frustrating result as the Panthers were the better team, but the Ducks took advantage of some mistakes to grab the lead and got a huge performance from Dostal, who finished with 31 saves, to claim the win. After holding Vegas to 17 shots, the Cats did the same to Anaheim. Unfortunately, they didn’t start scoring until late in the game and came up a goal short. Still, there is something to said for fighting back from two down and getting a point.
The Five Hole
- Sam Reinhart has goals in three-straight games and is now tied with Brad Marchand for the team lead in goals with five. Reinhart finished with a game-high nine shots.
- Daniil Tarasov is still looking for his first win with Florida after again providing a quality start. Tarasov has allowed just eight goals (2.64 GAA) in his three appearances.
- The Panthers went 0-for-4 on the power play, including a 4-on-3 advantage in overtime when Mackie Samoskevich drew a hooking call on Mason McTavish.
- Another quiet one for Sam Bennett, who was credited with one shot, one hit and one block in 16:35 of ice time.
- Florida won 60.9% of the game’s faceoffs, out-hit the road weary Ducks 30-19 and blocked 22 shots.
Stat Card
