Seldom-used forward Maxim Mamin scored twice, including the tying goal late in the third period Saturday afternoon, as the host Florida Panthers rallied to win a 4-3 shootout over the St. Louis Blues in Sunrise, Fla.
It was Mamin's first career multi-point game.
Anton Lundell and Sam Rinehart scored for Florida in the shootout. St. Louis' Ryan O'Neil tried to tie the shootout 2-2, but his forehand shot was blocked by Sergei Bobrovsky's right pad, ending the game.
The Panthers, who have the NHL's best home record at 14-1-0, never led in the game, yet won their third straight contest. This victory wasn't as dramatic as the past two, when Florida rallied from three-goal deficits.
Still, the Panthers trailed 3-2 until they pulled Bobrovsky with 2:36 left in the third period. Two seconds later, the puck was in the back of the St. Louis net, courtesy of a faceoff win by the Panthers' Lundell leading to Mamin's second goal of the game.
Reinhart scored the other goal for the Panthers, who got 22 saves from Bobrovsky.
Backup goalie Ville Husso was busy for the Blues, making 48 saves. Logan Brown, Jake Walman and Brandon Saad scored for the Blues. It was Walman's second career goal in 41 games, and his first in 16 contests this season.
Saad leads the Blues with 10 goals this season.
In the first and second periods, St. Louis scored a goal and Florida matched each time.
The Blues opened the scoring on Brown's tap-in just 5:24 into the game. That goal was set by Dakota Joshua, whose slick stickwork left Brown with an open left side of the net from point-bank range.
Florida tied the score with 7:04 elapsed in the first as Mamin grabbed a loose puck and beat Husso to his glove side.
Then 6:36 into the second period Blues center Ryan O'Reilly forced a turnover along the boards by working veteran Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas. O'Reilly got the puck to Walman in the slot, and Walman unleased a blast that gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead.
Florida tied the score again as Reinhart tapped in an easy rebound shot. The goal was set up by Jonathan Huberdeau's cross-ice pass to Lucas Carlsson, whose shot from the left circle went off Husso's glove and left pad, leaving the juicy rebound for Reinhart.
St. Louis took its third lead with 15:31 left in the third. O'Reilly made another great play as his pass got past Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad's skate and fed Saad, whose shot slipped under Bobrovsky's right pad for a 3-2 Blues lead.
The teams will get a rematch on Tuesday in St. Louis.
--Field Level Media
St. Louis | Florida | |
Ryan O'Reilly 2 | Points | Maxim Mamin 2 |
Logan Brown 1 | Goals | Maxim Mamin 2 |
Ryan O'Reilly 2 | Assists | Lucas Carlsson 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Ville Husso .941 | Save Percentage | Sergei Bobrovsky .880 |
Ville Husso 48 | Saves | Sergei Bobrovsky 22 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
St. Louis | 25 | 3 | 0-1 | 4-4 | 10 | 33 |
Florida | 51 | 4 | 0-4 | 1-1 | 4 | 30 |