Panthers Third-Period Comeback Falls Short, Lose to Ducks in Shootout

SUNRISE, Fla. —  For a majority of Tuesday night’s game, the Florida Panthers looked like they’d leave Amerant Bank Arena disappointed in their performance against the Anaheim Ducks, and it would have been warranted.

They didn’t end up victorious as Anaheim won 3-2 in a shootout. But, getting out with a loser point seemed generous based on how the first 40 minutes of the contest went.

The Ducks scored two special-teams goals in the second period— one short-handed from Leo Carlsson and one on a 5-on-3 power-play from Cutter Gauthier — in less than three minutes.

”If you give a team with skill a 5-on-3, the chances are they’re going to score on those,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said.

A regulation defeat to a young Ducks team looked all but certain for the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions.

Florida gave it one final push, with goals from Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart propelling a late third-period rally to send the game to overtime.

With 8:48 to play in regulation, the comeback effort started after the two youngest Panthers linked up to finally get their club on the board. Mackie Samoskevich — who was filling in on the second line for an absent Brad Marchand — fed a pass to an unmarked Anton Lundell in front of Anaheim’s net.

“We all saw how [many] steps he took forward last season, and this year he looks even faster and stronger,” Lundell said when asked of Samoskevich’s improvement in his sophomore season. “I’m not surprised to say anything about him. He’s just going to get better.”

As the clock trickled down, Florida pulled their goaltender with over three minutes to go in favor of an extra attacker. With 3:06 to go in the third, a Seth Jones point-shot deflected off of Sam Reinhart and past Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal to tie the game at 2-2.

“You see one go in and it gave us a little bit of life,” Seth Jones spoke of the third-period comeback. “It’s nice to see one go in, we’ve had trouble kind of putting them in lately.”

In overtime, the Panthers had a golden opportunity to complete the comeback. With 2:06 to play, Ducks forward Mason McTavish went to the box for hooking Samoskevich, putting Florida on a 4-on-3 man-advantage.

To McTavish’s relief, the Ducks successfully killed off the penalty, due in large part to Dostal, who finished the night with 31 saves. McTavish would be the hero, scoring the game-winning shootout goal after holding out Daniil Tarasov just long enough to slip the puck through the Panthers goalie’s five-hole.