Panthers recover, defeat Seguin, Stars in OT

SUNRISE, Fla. --Tyler Seguin scored the game-tying goal in the third period in his season debut, but the Dallas Stars lost 5-4 in overtime to the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Monday.

Seguin tied it 4-4 at 4:06 on a rebound in front, 11 seconds after Joel Kiviranta cut it to 4-3. Seguin missed the first 51 games after having hip surgery Nov. 2.
"It was emotional," Seguin said. "Kind of this whole day, trying to make your mind your friend. A lot of excitement, a lot of nerves and frankly a lot of emotion. It was a long journey to get to this point. It's been tough watching our team going through everything they have this whole year and not being able to help, so it was nice to finally get out there."

Stars forward Joe Pavelski took a hooking penalty in overtime against Aleksander Barkov, who gave the Panthers the win when he beat Jake Oettinger with a one-timer from the left circle at 2:50.
"They're a great team battling for their playoff spot and give it everything they have," Barkov said. "We want to play as well too. We did that and came out with two points."
MacKenzie Weegar had a goal and an assist, and Keith Yandle, Owen Tippett and Grigori Denisenko each had two assists for Florida (35-14-5), which has won four straight and remained two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Discover Central Division.
Spencer Knight made 25 saves to become the youngest goalie in NHL history (20 years, 14 days) to win his first four decisions.
"A good test, a good learning curve," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "Things change quickly. He settled down after that and found a way to win."
Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist for Dallas (21-17-14), which is 0-2-2 in its past four games and fell four points behind the Nashville Predators for fourth place and the last Stanley Cup Playoff berth from the division with four games remaining. Anton Khudobin allowed four goals on 15 shots before being replaced in the second period by Oettinger, who made 27 saves.
"I didn't think he had very much help in front of him on those goals," Stars coach Rick Bowness said of Khudobin. "I had to do something to change it. It wasn't his fault those pucks were going in. It was the guys in front of him."

Jonathan Huberdeau gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 1:53 of the first period when he finished a 2-on-1 with Tippett. Nikita Gusev scored 49 seconds later to make it 2-0, getting to a rebound in front with his backhand.
Pavelski cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 12:04. He beat Knight over his glove with a shot near the left post.
Weegar gave Florida a 3-1 lead at 14:13 with a wrist shot off a rush.
Robertson was then credited with the goal that made it 3-2 at 17:16. Roope Hintz pressured Weegar in the Panthers zone, and the defenseman's attempt to clear the puck across the slot deflected in off Knight's skate.
Gustav Forsling scored 45 seconds into the second period to make it 4-2 before Dallas rallied to force overtime.
"We're playing desperate hockey right now," Bowness said. "For us to come back, that's a really good hockey club over there, man. I don't think we had everyone going early in the game, which I don't understand, but as the game went on, we got going and it was a huge comeback in the third period to get those two quick goals. I give us credit for battling back and the desperation needed to get back and get that point, but again, it's just disappointing when you shoot yourself in the foot and you keep losing these games like we did."
NOTES:Seguin had three shots, two hits and one block in 17:09 of ice time. … Barkov's overtime goal was his sixth in the NHL, which is second in Panthers history behind Olli Jokinen's 11. … Florida leads the NHL in wins after regulation (11), and Dallas leads the NHL in losses after regulation (14).