Recap: Tkachuk gives Panthers 3-2 quadruple overtime win over Hurricanes

After 79:47 of overtime, the Florida Panthers took full advantage of a turnover when Sam Bennett fed Matthew Tkachuk and he beat Frederik Andersen high to the glove side to give the Cats a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in the sixth longest game in NHL history.

Aaron Ekblad dumped the puck into the corner and Brent Burns retrieved it.His bounce pass off the boards was moved along by Jaccob Slavin and cut off by Bennett, who quickly centered to Tkachuk for the fantastic finish.

The Panthers persevered to take the longest game in franchise history for both teams, overcoming a disallowed goal in the first overtime when it appeared Ryan Lomberg scored, only to have the potential winner wiped off the board when it was ruled Colin White interfered with Andersen.

Florida opened with a mostly solid period of road hockey, but late penalties on Marc Staal (tripping) and Ekblad (an iffy cross-checking) allowed the Hurricanes to get the game’s first goal at 19:48 when Burns easily picked off a clearing attempt and went it down low to Sebastian Aho, who sent the puck back into the high slot for Seth Jarvis to pound home mere seconds after Staal returned.

The Panthers upped their level in the second, and after failing on two poorly executed power-play chances, finally broke through at 15:28 when Aleksander Barkov sniped Andersen from the top of the left circle after receiving a cross from Anthony Duclair. Carter Verhaeghe picked up the secondary helper on Barkov’s third of the postseason.

Florida’s first line trio clicked again 2:15 later to give the Cats the lead. Duclair was left alone in front to deflect Barkov’s pass on Andersen. He collected the rebound and passed to himself behind the net, before his centering attempt to Verhaeghe was denied. Verhaeghe tracked down the puck along the goal line and then cut into right circle before beating Andersen far-side with perfectly placed shot.

An undisciplined roughing on Bennett put the Hurricanes on the power play early in the third period and Carolina cashed in at the 3:47 mark via a nifty triangular passing play involving Martin Necas, Jarvis and Stefan Noesen, who got the goal following a keep at the line by Burns.

Hats off to both goaltenders who remained cool, calm, collected and razor sharp throughout the epic battle. Bobrovsky finished with a franchise-record 63 saves while Andersen stopped 57 of Florida’s 60 shots.

That was simply one for the ages.

Wind & Shudders

• The Panthers are now 5-0 in overtime and have won six straight road games this postseason.
• While Florida’s top line combined for six points, I thought Brandon Montour was the game’s best skater. Montour finished with a plus-three rating. eight shots on goal, one hit and three blocks while racking up a game-high 57:56 of ice time.
• Anthony Duclair and Brent Burns matched Montour’s game-high eight shots. Duclair had the primary assists on both of the Panthers goals in regulation and Burns led the Hurricanes in ice time (54:43) and blocked a game-high ten shots.
• Ryan Lomberg returned after an eight-game absence and played 18:46. he finished with two shots, two hits, a block and almost had the overtime winner.
• Paul Statsny was the only one of the game’s 36 skaters who didn’t register a shot on goal.
• For the weak side of last night’s storm, visit Canes Country. Even though we’re an indy now, we still like ya.