Florida finished off a stretch in which they played eight of their last nine games at home. It was the first game of a home-and-home series against the Blues.
The previous time the Panthers and the Blues tangled was on March 9, 2020. It was the last game prior to the pandemic stoppage of the National Hockey League during the 2019-20 regular season. The Blues entered the contest having won six of their last seven games in Sunrise.
St. Louis(12-8-4) pulled out to a 1-0 lead at the 5:24 mark of the first period. Ivan Barbashev backhanded the puck from the right point to the middle and Dakota Joshua skated through the slot. He backhanded a lateral pass and Logan Brown tapped it in from the edge of the blue paint. It was the second tally by Brown in three games and his third career goal.
Florida(17-4-3) tied it up 1-1 at 7:04. Maxim Mamin cleared the puck ahead to Lucas Carlsson in the neutral zone. He brought it into the Blues zone, dropped a pass and Mamin released a wrist shot from the high slot for his second goal of the campaign.
In the second period, the Blues regained the lead 2-1 with 13:24 to go. Ryan O'Reilly stole the puck from Radko Gudas on the end wall and centered it from the right corner. Walman blasted a slap shot from the high slot area by Sergei Bobrovsky for his first goal this year and second NHL goal.
The Cats evened it 2-2 with 2:00 left in the second. Jonathan Huberdeau angled a pass back from the low right circle and Carlsson sent a snap shot which was saved by Ville Husso. Sam Reinhart poked in the rebound from the blue paint for his seventh goal of the season. Carlsson now has four points in the last two contests while Huberdeau has eight assists and nine points in the past three games.
St. Louis took the lead for the third time of the contest at the 4:29 mark of the third period to make it 3-2. O'Reilly charged into the Panthers zone and connected a left-outlet pass from the top of the zone. Brandon Saad placed in a one-time forehand shot from the inner left circle for his 10th goal this season.
The Cats pulled their goalie for an attacker and immediately scored with 2:34 left in the third. Anton Lundell won a left-circle faceoff and Mamin rifled a slap shot. It was the first multi-point game for Mamin in his NHL career.
The game went into a shootout. Lundell converted on the Panthers first attempt with a snap shot through the five-hole. Jordan Kyrou would hit the right point on the Blues first attempt. Huberdeau was then stopped on a stick save. Brown evened up the shootout as he roofed a backhand shot. Reinhart got the puck in the cage for Florida on a snap shot and then O'Reilly missed with a forehand shot on the third attempt by St. Louis.
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