RECAP: Panthers 5, Hurricanes 4 (OT)

SUNRISE, Fla. – Nothing like a little preseason payback.

After enduring an 8-2 defeat in Raleigh on Friday, the Florida Panthers responded with a thrilling 5-4 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Clawing back from down 4-1, Florida’s youthful lineup showed plenty of poise in the win.

“You’d like to see the young players show how they’d handle it,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “We didn’t have a whole lot going in the first period, and then we started skating a little better.”

Left with too much space to work, Jackson Blake got the Hurricanes on the board early in the first period when he picked a corner from inside the right circle to make it 1-0 at 2:22.

Helping to limit the damage, Chris Driedger came up with a pair of big stops in rapid succession from in tight to keep the deficit at one just before the 12-minute mark.

Netting his second goal of the preseason, Patrick Giles, who is preparing for his third full season in the pros, evened the scored for Florida when he blew past a defender, cut to the net and tipped a feed from Ryan McAllister past Spencer Martin to make it 1-1 at 14:35.

With veteran Tomas Nosek dealing with an upper-body injury suffered on Sept. 22, Giles is one of several players vying to temporarily fill his spot in the center of Florida’s fourth line.

“He’s got good hands around the net for a big man,” Maurice said of Giles, who stands 6-foot-4. “He’s making a case. He’s done what he needs to do up to this point in the camp. He’s moved himself up the depth chart.”

Taking advantage of a turnover in the neutral zone, the Hurricanes regained the lead just before the intermission when Juha Jaaska scored on a breakaway to make it 2-1 at 19:57.

Despite a stretch of extended zone time for the Panthers early in the second period, the Hurricanes added to their lead with a goal from Jack Drury at 4:01. Just 24 seconds later, Gleb Trikozov struck again for Carolina with a strike from the slot to make it 4-1 at 4:25.

Showing off his passing skills a second time, McAllister helped the Panthers push back when he found Wilmer Skoog right in front of the net for a goal to make it 4-2 at 6:53.

“I think from last year, my first [training] camp, I’m coming into this year a lot more confident,” said McAllister, who notched 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in 37 games in the AHL last season. “That’s my game. I like to make plays, and I showed it tonight.”

Making it a one-goal game, Sandis Vilmanis, drawing the attention of his teammate with some aggressive stick tapping, teed up a feed from Evan Nause and blasted a one-timer into the back of the cage from the right circle to make it 4-3 at 12:49.

Evening the score, Adam Boqvist took a pass from Anton Lundell and snapped a shot from beyond the left circle that sailed into the twine to make it 4-4 at 17:44. Despite not getting a point on the play, Eetu Luostarinen blinded Carolina’s netminder with a perfect screen.

Saving the game, Driedger made a sprawling save on Eric Robinson with less than six minutes left.

Dreidger finished with 27 saves; Martin made 24.

With the action eventually getting to overtime, Jesper Boqvist played the role of hero for the Panthers when he crashed the net and buried a rebound after a great drive by 2024 sixth-round pick Hunter St. Martin to complete the comeback and lock in the 5-4 win.

Even though it’s just preseason, moments like that always feel good.

“Scoring goals is always something you want to do,” said Boqvist, who got his first look on a line with Lundell and Luostarinen. “It’s hard work first, and then you hopefully score a goal. It’s good to win this game, for sure. It was not a good enough start, but we grew into it.”

The Panthers will continue their preseason against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday in Sunrise.

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