Trailing by three in the third, the Panthers orchestrated a dramatic comeback, ultimately triumphing over the Hurricanes in a thrilling shootout.
The Florida Panthers have been playing some solid hockey of late, but they couldn’t keep the good times rolling on Friday.
Hosting the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes, Florida struggled solve former Panthers goaltender Brandon Bussi for much of the night but mounted an exciting late comeback, exterminating a three-goal third period deficit and winning 4-3 in a shootout.
Carolina got on the scoreboard first when Jordan Stall slammed home a loose puck in front of a sprawling Sergei Bobrovsky at the 11:53 mark of the opening period.
It wasn’t until late in the second period that it looked like the game had a second goal, but a Seth Jarvis tally was taken away after a review due to the puck being kicked in the net.
Through two periods, the goaltenders from both teams were putting on a show.
Bobrovsky for Florida and Bussi for Carolina combined to stop 43 of 44 shots during the first two periods – 20 for Bobrovsky and 23 for Bussi – to keep the score at just 1-0 entering the final frame.
Carolina doubled their lead less than 90 seconds into the third when Sebastian Aho went five-hole on Bobrovsky after going on a breakaway, giving the Hurricanes a 2-0 advantage.
Aho cashed in again, this time on a power play, with 12:26 to go in the game.
Bobrovsky made a spectacular side-to-side save on Andrei Svechnikov at the left post, but Aho was in the right place at the right time and wired the rebound past Bob and into the net.
Florida finally got onto the scoreboard a few minutes later when Brad Marchand found a loose puck at the side of Bussi’s net.
Marchand’s 20th goal of the season made the score 3-1 with 9:44 to go.
With Bobrovsky on the bench for an extra attacker, Sam Bennett scored on an Evan Rodrigues rebound to cut Caroina’s lead to 3-2 with 2:25 still on the clock.
They weren’t done there.
Once again with Bob on the bench, Sam Reinhart one-timed a pass from Marchand through Bussi’s five-hole that just squeaked across the line with 41.1 on the clock.
Overtime would solve nothing, so the Panthers would go to a shootout for just the third time this season.
Goals by Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues, and three big saves by Bobrovsky, would seal the stunning victory for Florida.
It was the first time in franchise history that the Cats won a game in which they were down by three with under 10 minutes to go.
On to the Blues.
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Photo caption: Dec 19, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Evan Rodrigues (17) scores against Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi (32) during the shootout at Amerant Bank Arena. (Rhona Wise-Imagn Images)