Panthers Overcome Stars

     The Florida Panthers began a short two-game road trip as they pulled off a three-goal comeback by taking the Dallas Stars 4-3 at American Airlines Center on Tuesday night. Kyle Okposo made his debut with the Panthers. 

     The Panthers are first in the National Hockey League and the Atlantic Division while the Stars are first in the Central Division. The Cats have the best record in the NHL since January 20 at 18-3-0. The Stars had their five-game winning streak snapped. 

     Dallas(40-18-9) walked out to a 1-0 lead at the 3:53 mark of the first period. Wyatt Johnston tipped the puck at the red line to set up a two-on-zero breakaway. Jason Robertson made a lead pass from the blue line and Joe Pavelski snapped a shot from the low slot past Sergei Bobrovsky for his 24th goal of the season. 

     The Stars added to their lead 2-0 with a power-play goal at 7:48 of the second period. Jamie Benn took a shot from the inner left circle which was saved. Pavelski slid the puck across in the crease area and Robertson placed in a wrist shot from the right of the crease for his 23rd goal of the campaign. 

     The momentum remained with Dallas as they made it a three-goal margin just 23 seconds later. Former Panther Mason Marchment intercepted a pass on the left wing and fired a forehand shot. It was deflected in by Johnston at the top of the crease for his 24th goal in 2023-24. It was his fifth goal in the last six contests. 

     Florida(45-17-4) broke the shutout on a power-play tally with 7:08 left in the second and trailed 3-1. Matthew Tkachuk angled a pass from the right wing to Aleksander Barkov on the right goal line. He centered it and Sam Reinhart powered a slap shot from the high slot by Jake Oettinger for his 46th goal this season. 

     In the third period, the Panthers scored with the man advantage at the 11:09 mark. Carter Verhaeghe got his 31st goal this year with assists from Brandon Montour and Tkachuk. 

     The Cats tied the game 3-3 with 6:00 remaining in the third. Gustav Forsling made a square pass from the left point. Tkachuk took a shot from the top of the zone and it was tipped in by Sam Bennett in the crease area for his 16th goal of the season. 

     Florida got their fourth unanswered goal with 5:22 left and moved ahead 4-3. Montour fed a pass ahead from the left point. Verhaeghe connected a pass from the left wing and Barkov scored his 17th goal this season on a wrist shot from the right-circle faceoff dot.