Panthers Outlasted By Ducks

     The Florida Panthers were outscored by the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 in overtime on Monday at Amerant Bank Arena. The Panthers have an 10-4-1 record following a loss this season. They are now 19-0-2 when leading after two periods. 

     Both teams are celebrating their 30th anniversary in the National Hockey League. Radko Gudas and Frank Vatrano faced against their former team. 

     Florida(27-13-3) moved out to a 1-0 lead with the man advantage at 8:29. Oliver Ekman-Larsson made a lead pass from his own zone. Evan Rodrigues sent a cross-ice pass from the right point and Sam Bennett snapped a shot from the high slot by John Gibson for his ninth goal of the campaign. 

     It became 2-0 for the Cats on a shorthanded goal with 2:25 to go in the period. Nico Mikkola carried the puck through the neutral zone to the right wing. He centered the puck and Sam Reinhart backhanded it from the top of the crease for his 32nd goal this season. 

     Anaheim(15-27-1) got a tally with 3.2 seconds remaining in the first and were down 2-1. Aleksander Barkov won a faceoff left circle. Adam Henrique pushed the puck out of his zone. Alex Killorn raced down the middle of the ice alone a placed a forehand shot past Anthony Stolarz from the crease area for his fifth goal with his new club. Stolarz played against his former team for the first time. 

     In the second period, the Ducks tied it 2-2 at the 5:24 mark with a shorthanded goal. Vatrano fed a pass from the top of the zone and Henrique released a snap shot from the slot area for his 11th goal in 2023-24. Henrique is best remembered for scoring the double overtime goal against Florida in Game 7 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals for the New Jersey Devils. 

     The Panthers regained the lead 3-2 at 9:36 of the second on another power-play tally. Barkov passed the puck from the right corner and Brandon Montour angled a pass from the right point. Carter Verhaeghe ripped a wrist shot from the above the left circle for his 23rd goal this season. 

     Florida expanded their lead to 4-2 with 7:11 left in the frame. Verhaeghe made a square pass at the Ducks blue line and Matthew Tkachuk connected a cross-ice pass from the left circle to Bennett on the right circle. Bennett fired a one-time slap shot from the inner right circle for his second tally of the contest and 11th goal of the campaign. 

     The Ducks closed the gap to 4-3 with 5:02 to go in the second. Sam Carrick flipped a high pass out of his own zone. Jakob Silfverberg sprinted for the puck in the high slot and slipped a backhand shot from the top of the crease for his second goal of the year. 

     Anaheim erased a two-goal deficit for the second time and evened it up 4-4 at 3:45. Jackson LaCombe zipped a pass across the red line. Troy Terry got his 11th goal this season as he moved through the slot area to the left of the crease and backhanded a shot. 

     The Ducks completed the comeback victory just 48 seconds into overtime. Vatrano passed from the right goal line and Killorn snapped a shot from the right inner circle for his second goal of the contest and sixth goal this season.