Skating in his 1,000th NHL game, Dmitry Kulikov recorded the secondary assist on the goal.
Originally selected by the Panthers with the 14th overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, Kulikov is just the 402nd skater and 135th defenseman in NHL history to appear in 1,000 contests.
Even from the press box, you could tell the milestone gave the whole team a boost.
“I thought Kuli (Kulikov), on his special night, was so good for us,” Tkachuk said. “At this point in the year, I know it might not make sense to everybody, but you almost need a game like this, something really special for one of our teammates, to come to the rink and just give it everything you can and do it for that guy next to you, which was Kuli tonight.”
Moments after getting away with a blatant interference against Mackie Samoskevich, the Kings thought they tied the game but – thanks to some karma? – they had their goal come off the board immediately due to a clear-cut case of substantial goaltender interference.
Coming out firing, the Panthers recorded 20 shots on goal in the first period.
The second period came and went with neither team lighting the lamp.
With all of the action at 5-on-5, the Panthers led 8-6 in scoring chances.
“We’re comfortable playing at home with a lead,” Bennett said. “That’s always nice.”
Just as it was during their loss in Los Angeles, the Panthers led 1-0 heading into the third.
This time around, they made sure the end result would be different.
With the Panthers earning nine seconds of a 5-on-3 power play early in the third period, Aleksander Barkov made the most out of that limited time by winning a faceoff draw in the offensive zone, going to the net and scoring to make it 2-0 at 4:43.
The moment was so nice that even the stoic captain cracked a smile.