Panthers top Kings with 1 second left in OT, rally for 9th straight victory

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Sam Reinhart scored a power-play goal with one second left in overtime to give the Florida Panthers their ninth consecutive win, 3-2 against the Los Angeles Kings at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday.

Reinhart scored on a backhand from the right side to the far post off a feed from Aleksander Barkov. He extended his goal streak to five games with his 30th of the season.

“I heard the crowd and knew time was running down,’’ Reinhart said. “Things are going well for us, we’re in the moment and taking it day by day. This was a really tough test tonight and I liked our battle, I liked our compete.”

Florida forced overtime with 2:18 left in the third period when Matthew Tkachuk tipped a Carter Verhaeghe shot to tie it 2-2 with Sergei Bobrovsky pulled for the extra attacker. Tkachuk has also scored in five straight.

“We were just trying to throw everything at the net and get people to the net,” Tkachuk said. “Luckily it hit off my stick. I am happy that one went in.”

Sam Bennett scored, Reinhart had an assist, and Bobrovsky made 31 saves for the Panthers (27-12-2), who have not lost since Dec. 21 (4-1 to the St. Louis Blues).

“We have won nine in a row right now, and the only thing on our minds is trying to make it 10 on Saturday (against the New Jersey Devils),” Tkachuk said. “We’re doing it the right way.”

Trevor Moore and Drew Doughty scored, and Cam Talbot made 38 saves for the Kings (20-10-8), who have lost seven straight (0-3-4).

“It was a hard-fought game, had high-end intensity, a lot of physicality, a lot of battles and not a lot of empty ice,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “This was the type of game you would expect from these two teams. Unfortunately, we’re on the back end of it. But I thought we played one [heck] of a game. There are a lot of good things to take away.”

The Kings took a 1-0 lead at 6:17 of the first period when Moore got to a loose puck near the net and lifted it in with Bobrovsky down on the ice.

Bennett tied it 1-1 at 10:58 of the second period. Eetu Luostarinen’s pass from the left face-off circle caught the skate of a charging Bennett and got past Talbot.

Doughty put the Kings in front 2-1 on the power play with 21 seconds left, one-timing a pass by Adrian Kempe at the point.

“It could have gone either way,” Los Angeles forward Phillip Danault said. “We played hard, I thought we played good with the lead. Those are the positives. We played a good 60 minutes. You cannot say we did not play hard.”

The Panthers went on the power play in overtime when Kempe was called for cross-checking Brandon Montour at 3:37.

Bobrovsky said he was preparing for the shootout when Reinhart scored to win it.

“He has been doing it for so long and his shot placement is so good,’’ Florida coach Paul Maurice said of Reinhart. “I can’t tell you what it feels like to be that skilled. Those are special NHL hands. He has worked hard and he has earned it.”

Los Angeles led by two in the third period at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday but lost 3-2 in overtime.

“We’re all [ticked] off that we obviously couldn’t have a better result [the] last couple of games, but I think it’s a good sign,” Danault said. “It’s a fine line, and we’re right there. So we’ve just got to find a way to capitalize on our chances and keep pushing. I mean, we have no other options.”

NOTES: Reinhart scored the latest overtime goal in Florida history; Dave Lowry scored with four seconds remaining against Tampa Bay on Oct. 30, 1993. Reinhart (41 games) also became the second-fastest player in Panthers history to score 30 goals in a season (Pavel Bure, 34 games, 1999-00). He has seven goals, two assists and four game-winners during his goal streak. … Tkachuk has seven goals during his goal streak and 16 points (nine assists) in a seven-game point streak. … Verhaeghe has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in a seven-game point streak. … Bobrovsky got his second assist of the season on Reinhart’s goal. … Florida’s winning streak is the third-longest in its history (13 games, 2021-22; 12 games, 2015-16). … Doughty ended a 14-game goal drought with his first since Dec. 7.