The Florida Panthers came back on the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 at Lenovo Center on Tuesday night. Both teams faced each other four days ago in Sunrise.
It was the Panthers first visit to Raleigh since the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky tied Terry Sawchuk for eighth all-time in NHL history with his 445th victory.
In the first period, Carolina(22-11-3) jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 4:11 mark. Joel Nystrom carried the puck around his own cage and sent a long outlet pass from the end wall. Sebastian Aho angled the puck from the right wing and Eric Robinson snapped a shot from the top right circle past Bobrovsky for his eighth goal of the campaign.
The Hurricanes expanded their lead to 2-0 at 1:58 in the second period. Jordan Staal connected a long lead pass from his own left circle. Andrei Svechnikov came out of the penalty box, received the puck in the center-ice circle and went on a breakaway. He took a snap shot from the slot area for his ninth goal in 2025-26.
The third period belonged to Florida(20-14-2) as they scored three goals in just over a third-minute span. They made it 2-1 at 3:53 of the third period. Sam Reinhart backhanded the puck from the slot and
Eetu Luostarinen dropped a pass from the high slot. Niko Mikkola fired a slap shot from top of the zone past Frederik Andersen for his first tally of the year.
It became a 2-2 game at 6:17 of the frame. Aaron Ekblad held the puck in the Carolina zone at the right point and shot it from the right wing. It was deflected by Noah Gregor in the crease area and saved. Luke Kunin placed in a wrist shot from the inner left circle for his second goal in a Panthers uniform.
The Panthers pulled ahead 3-2 at the 7:00 mark of the third. Luostarinen released a shot from the right wing and that was stopped. Reinhart centered the puck from behind the cage and Anton Lundell collected his 12th goal this season on a forehand shot from the left-circle dot.
The Cats increased their lead to 4-2 with 10:03 left in the third. Sam Bennett reached for the loose puck, spun around at the right-circle dot and scored his 13th goal on a snap shot. Ekblad and A.J. Greer were credited with assist on the play.
Florida added a power-play goal with 4:39 remaining to make it 5-2. Brad Marchand returned the puck to Reinhart in the low slot. Reinhart made a square pass and Seth Jones put in a wrist shot from the low right circle for his sixth goal this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment