Vinnie Hinostroza scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Florida Panthers a wild 5-4 victory over the Seattle Kraken at Amerant Bank Arena.
After scoreless opening frame, Nolan Foote scored his first NHL goal since April 11, 2024, 2:32 into the second. Gustav Forsling moved the puck around the boards behind his own net and it got by Matty Berniers and came to Noah Gregor. Gregor and Foote took off on a two-on-one break and the former eventually fed the latter in the slot. Foote made contact with the puck twice and got it to go behind Joey Daccord.
The low event affair really opened up in the third, with the teams combining for eight goals and twenty shots, thirteen of which came from the desperate Kraken.
The Cats went up by two when Eetu Luostarinen set up Evan Rodrigues for a blast that was blocked by Jacob Melanson. Hinostroza backhanded the loose puck on goal and it bounced off Daccord and then Luostarinen on its way into the back of the net at the 5:16 mark.
Carter Verhaeghe notched his 21st of the season by banking a shot off Daccord from below the goal line 2:21 later after the keeper came out to challenge and caused him to briefly lose control of the puck to put the Kraken deeper under water.
Ryker Evans ended Sergei Bobrovsky’s shutout bid when he took a pass from Jordan Eberle and let go off a powerful slapper that ricocheted off the end boards and then the helpless goalie 33 seconds after Verhaeghe’s lucky marker. Berkly Catton drew the second assist.
Puck luck struck again at 12:21 when Gregor was looking for a streaking Foote and his pass into the slot deflected in off of a backchecking Shane Wright.
Beniers would beat Bobrovsky the old fashioned way at 14:12 to pull the Kraken back within two. After receiving a crisp pass from Adam Larsson, former Panther Brandon Montour sent the puck lower to Berniers, who broke in on Bobrovsky, avoided his poke-check and swept the puck in on the forehand while falling to the ice.
Eberle and Bobby McMann would net breakaway goals 16 seconds apart to stun the Panthers and earn Seattle a much-needed point. Eberle stole the puck from Dmitry Kulikov and McMann did the same to Jesper Boqvist.
Florida somehow shook off the late run of goals, Seattle lit the lamp thrice in a 2:21 span, and out-shot the Kraken 4-0 in the extra session, but Daccord would not yield.
After Hinostroza scored on beautiful forehand-to-backhand move in the top of the second round, Bobrosky’s blocker save on Eberle in the bottom of third deal sealed the deal in the shootout, giving the Panthers their 35th win of the season.
It would’ve been a shame if the depleted Panthers would’ve lost this one after twice building three-goal leads in the third, but they regathered themselves after the shocking 1-2 breakaway gut punch from Eberle and McCann and were able to get through regulation and claw out the extra point to split the season-series with the slumping Kraken. The Cats will close the brief homestand when they take on the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
The Five Hole
- Vinnie Hinostroza earned the First Star for his shootout goal and assist. He logged 15:30 of ice time and was credited with two shots on goal.
- Hinostroza’s fantastic finish gave Paul Maurice a win in his 2,000th career game as a head coach. Maurice joined the legendary Scotty Bowman in the 2,000 club.
- Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves and earned his 455th win, moving him past Curtis Joseph for sole possession of seventh place in NHL history.
- Nolan Foote’s first goal as a member of the Panthers came in his third game with the team. It was the 25-year-old’s seventh career goal and tenth career point.
- With a goal and an assist, Noah Gregor delivered his first multi-point game of the season. Gregor, Foote and Luke Kunin were the only Cats to finish the game with a plus-two rating.
Stat Card
