SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers suffered a 3-2 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena, but managed to pick up a point thanks to two late goals.
The defending champions deserved the second point and led the scoring opportunity 42-19 in the loss.
With the loss, they are now 5-5-1.
“This is what we have to overcome here,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “There were some things we got right in our offensive game. The analysis will be good, but there are some things we need to be better at.”
The Panthers got off to a strong start and launched a fierce attack from the first period.
Despite the Ducks getting two power plays, Florida led 10-6 in scoring chances.
Daniil Tarasov kept his opponent off the boards early, robbing rookie Beckett Sennecke with a big save on his left pad during Anaheim’s second power play of the period.
“He was huge,” forward Anton Lundell said of Tarasov. “Without him, things would have been much worse. He kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win the game. He was great.”
But even though the Panthers were in control, the Ducks broke things out in the second period.
On Anaheim’s third penalty kill of the period, Leo Carlson took a one-time shot past Tarasov from the right circle and scored shorthanded at 9:57 to make it 1-0.
The Ducks got a 5-on-3 power play late in the period and took advantage of their two-man advantage, doubling their lead when Cutter Gauthier scored to make it 2-0 at 12:26.
“If you give a skilled team 5-on-3, they’re likely to score on it,” Morris said.
With one minute left in the center frame, AJ Greer faced off against Ross Johnston.
It finally paid off, and the Panthers took the field in the third period.
After some great work by Etu Luostarinen to dig the puck off the boards, Macky Samoskevic set up Randell’s clutch goal from the slot to make it 2-1 at 11:12.
