Yandle Sets Milestone Mark, Panthers Top Canes

     Keith Yandle passed Gary Unger for second place all-time in NHL history with 915 consecutive games played as the Florida Panthers overcame the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in overtime  at BB&T Center on Saturday night. The Panthers completed a four-game homestand and will begin their final road trip of the regular season. 

    Carolina(31-10-6) got on the scoreboard at 3:25 of the first period for a 1-0 lead. Sebastian Aho left the puck on the right goal line and Andrei Svechnikov pushed the puck back from the right corner to the right point. Dougie Hamilton blasted a slap shot through traffic past Chris Driedger for his seventh goal this season. It was the first goal for Hamilton in seven contests while Aho expanded his point streak to three games.

     Florida(31-13-5) evened it 1-1 with 24.9 seconds remaining in the first. Sam Bennett put the puck to Jonathan Huberdeau was behind the Canes cage and he made a pass. MacKenzie Weegar fired a slap shot from the right-circle dot by Alex Nedeljkovic for his fourth goal of the campaign. Huberdeau extended his point streak up to seven games. Bennett has collected a point in four of his five games in a Panthers uniform. 

     In the second period, the Hurricanes reclaimed the lead 2-1 on the power play at the 1:35 mark. Former Panther Vincent Trocheck connected a pass from the left corner to Aho behind the net. He passed out to the top right circle and Hamilton rifled a one-time slap shot for his second tally of the contest.   

     It became a two-goal margin for the Canes 3-1 at 3:01 of the third period. Brett Pesce took a slap shot from the left point and it went off a defender in the slot area for his 14th goal of the season. 

     The Panthers started to catch up with a tally at the 4:48 mark. Huberdeau fed the puck and Gustav Forsling powered in a slap shot from the high left circle.

     The Cats tied the game up 3-3 on a shorthanded goal at 6:20. Alex Wennberg kept poking at the puck in the blue paint and finished it off with his 12th goal this season. Weegar and Anthony Duclair were credited with assist on the play. Wennberg was able to score for the first time in 11 contests. 

     Overtime ended 24 seconds in for a Florida victory. Aleksander Barkov carried the puck from own end zone all the way to the Carolina zone. He snapped a shot from the right circle which went through the legs of Nedeljkovic for his 22nd goal of the season.