RECAP: Canucks 3, Panthers 2 (OT)

SUNRISE, Fla. – They always say the first game back after a road trip is the toughest.

Despite not quite having their legs after a four-game trek, the Florida Panthers picked up a point in their return home in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday.

Florida now sits at 3-2-1 in the standings.

“I’m not going to be rough on them when I think the tank is half full,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “As long as they empty it, there’s no complaints. I think that’s what you saw tonight.”

Breaking the ice in the first period, Teddy Blueger put the Canucks up 1-0 when he buried a wrap-around at 11:42. Initially ruled a save, the call was overturned after a review deemed the puck crossed just enough of the line before being kicked out by Sergei Bobrovsky.

Even though it wasn’t a save, it was still a heck of an effort from No. 72.

“It was a good game,” Bobrovsky said. “I thought the guys did a great job to compete and work hard. It’s an important and big point for us. We move on.”

Just 11 seconds later, the Panthers got the score back to even when Jesper Boqvist took a feed from Mackie Samoskevich and beat Kevin Lankinen with a shot from the right side of the net to make it 1-1 at 11:53. With the assist, Samoskevich recorded his first NHL point.

After the game, the 21-year-old forward snapped a pic with the puck.

“It felt great, that’s for sure,” said Samoskevich, the 24^th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. “It feels good to have another young guy – or younger – score it, too. It’s something you definitely dream of. More to come, for sure.”

With Bobrovsky and Lankinen going save-for-save early in the second period, the Canucks eventually broke through for their second goal when Quinn Hughes, the league’s reigning Norris Trophy winner, fired a slap shot through traffic into the twine to make it 2-1 at 6:30.

The Panthers challenged the goal, but officials upheld it after a review.

On the faceoff prior to the goal, the puck hit Vancouver’s center before touching the ice.

Even though the puck went off his hand, officials did not deem the sequence a hand pass.

Already without Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness), the Panthers also briefly lost their leading scorer for a few minutes in the middle frame when Sam Reinhart had to make a trip to the dressing room after a defensive-zone collision.

Thankfully, Reinhart returned to the bench looking no worse for wear.

However, the Panthers did lose Jonah Gadjovich early in the game after he “tightened up,” according to Maurice.

With that, they essentially rolled three forward lines for most of the game.

On the power play, the Panthers pulled even when Anton Lundell, who’s been on absolute fire as of late, beat Lankinen with a far-side snipe to make it 2-2 at the 19-minute mark.

Over the last three games, the 23-year-old forward has scored four goals.

“I think we fought pretty good today,” Lundell said. “It wasn’t easy. We had guys leaving and played with less guys than we were planning to, but we fought well. I feel like the start wasn’t as good as we wanted, but we got better into the game in the second and third.”

Less than three minutes into the third period, Bobrovsky kept the game tied when he denied Brock Boeser on a point-blank slap shot from the slot. A few minute later, he sprawled out to stop Nils Aman on an uncontested tip from the top of the crease.

Those were two of 11 saves for Bobrovsky in the third period.

“I mean, the wall is always in good form,” Lundell smiled.

At 2:09 of overtime, J.T. Miller scored a rocket to lock in the 3-2 win for Vancouver.

THEY SAID IT

“It wasn’t a smooth game for either team by any means. Both teams have guys out of their lineup that I think are important to them. A bit of a grinder.” – Paul Maurice

“I’ve got so much trust and so much belief.” – Sergei Bobrovsky

“It’s always fun to score. I’m just trying to do my best. I know we have a couple guys away, so I’m just trying to step up and be that guy and be a leader.” – Anton Lundell

CATS STATS

- Sam Reinhart extended his point streak to four games.

- The Panthers improved to 16/18 (88.9%) on the penalty kill to start the season.

- Anton Lundell won a team-high 12 faceoffs.

- Sam Bennett dished out a team-high five hits.

- The panthers led 24-19 in scoring chances at 5-on-5.

- Sergei Bobrovsky made seven high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers will look to extend their point streak to four games when they host the Vegas Golden Knights in a rematch of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.