Panthers fall to Hurricanes in OT for first losing skid

[March 02, 2021]    Martin Necas scored with 1:59 expired in overtime, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla.

Sebastian Aho got the assist on a pass that led Necas right to the goal.

Florida Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas (7) controls the puck away from Carolina Hurricanes right wing Nino Niederreiter (21) during the first period at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Brett Pesce and ex-Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck also scored for the Hurricanes. Trocheck leads Carolina with 11 goals, including two in two games against the Panthers.

Frank Vatrano and Eetu Luostarinen scored for the Panthers. Vatrano has scored in three straight games, and all of those tallies came with the Panthers trailing in the third period.

Carolina backup goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made 44 saves to improve to 3-2-1 this season.

Panthers goalie Chris Driedger made 24 saves and fell to 7-3-1 as the Panthers lost consecutive games for the first time this season.

Florida's Noel Acciari, who scored a career-high 20 goals last season, returned after missing eight games due to an upper-body injury. But forward Anthony Duclair and defenseman Noah Juulsen were placed on injured reserve.

Carolina, following a roughing call on Patric Hornqvist, opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 13:35 of the first period. Pesce launched a high slapshot from the left circle that beat Driedger with the help of a Jesper Fast screen. Jake Bean got the primary assist.

The second period was scoreless although Carolina's Andrei Svechnikov came close with a shot that banged off the left post in the final minute. Florida's best chance came with 11:54 expired in the second as Aleksander Barkov had a short-handed breakaway broken up by Fast, who was called for tripping.

Florida tied the score 1-1 with 15:20 left in the third as Vatrano fought off Pesce to sweep home a rebound of a Barkov shot.

The Panthers nearly took the lead on Keith Yandle's drive with 9:47 left in the third, but the puck hit the left post.

Luostarinen gave Florida a 2-1 lead with 3:09 left in the third. Luostarinen tried a wraparound and then batted at the rebound, finally scoring on his fourth attempt.

Carolina sent the game to overtime by pulling its goalie and getting Trocheck's goal from the slot with 93 seconds left. Nino Niederreiter got the primary assist for his perfect feed.

--Field Level Media

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