Lundell's stunning mid-air deflection secured a thrilling last-minute victory for the Panthers Wednesday in Utah.
The Florida Panthers kicked off a four-game road trip on Wednesday night against the Utah Mammoth.
Florida played a strong game in a hostile barn, picking up a late goal and skating away with two points after defeating Utah 4-3.
In what was an evenly matched opening period, it was the Mammoth who got on the scoreboard first.
Dulan Guenther got behind the Panthers defense and beat Sergei Bobrovsky on a breakaway to make it 1-0 Utah at the 11:23 mark.
Florida tied things up just before the game hit the first intermission when Carter Verhaeghe deflected a perfect backdoor pass from Aaron Ekblad past Karel Vejmelka with 42.2 left in the period.
A pair of Sam Bennett goals one minute and forty-four seconds apart gave the Cats a 3-1 lead early in the second period.
The first Bennett goal came on a rush when he ripped a wrist shot past Vejmelka exactly 100 seconds into the middle frame, then Bennett scored after forcing a Nate Schmidt turnover in Utah’s zone, then finishing the play after a great pass by Verhaeghe.
Just 13 seconds later, Guenther got in behind Florida’s defense again, and just like the first time he beat Bobrovsky on a breakaway, cutting Florida’s newfound two-goal lead in half.
The Mammoth tied the game with just over five minutes left in the period when Jack McBain took advantage of some pre-shot contact with Bobrovsky and shot the puck into an empty half of the net.
That’s how the score would remain until the final minute of the game.
With the puck along the right-side boards, Sam Reinhart threw the puck toward the net, where Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen were trying to get open.
The puck deflected off Luostarinen at the near post and traveled past the net, but Lundell reached out with his stick and batted the puck out of midair and back toward the net, past a sprawling Vejmelka and into the cage.
With 51.4 left on the clock, that would be the game-winner for Lundell, his first of the season.
While Lundell will get the flowers, it was the brilliance of Bobrovsky that kept Florida in striking distance.
Bob finished with 27 saves, including 11 on high-danger shots by the Mammoth.
The win was a third straight for Florida, matching a season-high set all the way back during the first three games on the schedule.
We’ll see if they can make it four straight on Thursday night.
On to Colorado.
LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA
Robby Fabbri's Panthers AHL PTO Concludes; Signs Two-Way Deal With Blues
Panthers kick off challenging road trip with visit to Utah
Panthers Depart For Important And Challenging Four-Game Road Trip
Panthers Assign Jack Devine To Charlotte Checkers
Photo caption: Dec 10, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell (15) takes a shot on Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) during the first period at Delta Center. (Rob Gray-Imagn Images)