Last night’s game was another wild one for the Florida Panthers. Apparently they are now the king of comeback victories, as they were down 4-1 to the Buffalo Sabres, yet still managed to get the win. Once they started scoring, they didn’t stop, as they won by a 7-4 final score.
Let’s take a quick dive into all the action.
The game couldn’t have started off much worse for the Panthers. It all began when Vinnie Hinostroza scored his third goal of the season just over three minutes into the contest. This certainly raised Buffalo’s confidence from here, as young center Dylan Cozens scored his seventh goal of the campaign just four minutes later. Hinostroza was the real star of the period, though, as he scored his second of the game to finish out the period.
Heading into the second period, things were pretty tame. Yet, Panthers defenseman Lucas Carlsson would change that at the halfway mark, as he scored his first career NHL goal. Casey Middlestadt, however, would quickly ruin Florida’s momentum when he scored a goal of his own just a minute later. Sam Reinhart, who was a player to watch in this game, would then score against his former team a little over a minute himself. This was a real momentum booster, as Aaron Ekblad scored to make the game 4-3.
Heading into the third period, you could feel that the Panthers were going to cause damage. Keep in mind, they just had a big comeback win against the Washington Capitals – who just so happen to be a much tougher foe. Aaron Ekblad didn’t disappoint Panther fans, as he tied it up one minute into it with his second of contest. Rookie Anton Lundell then scored his fourth of the year and that would ultimately be the game-winner. Oh, and the Panthers added to the fun with two empty-net goals for insurance by Jonathan Huberdeau and Lundell.
Overall, this was a wacky game that ended up going in Florida’s favor again. However, heading into tomorrow’s contest against the St. Louis Blues, they need to play sharply throughout it.