SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers were down in just 95 seconds Saturday, but for the second time in the last week — and only the fourth time all year — a deficit didn’t doom them.
Even a second one didn’t.
After falling behind early in the first period and then again in the second, the Panthers rallied to beat the Canucks, 4-3, in their lone home game between a pair of road trips.
In the middle of a grueling month with nine road games and only six in Sunrise, it was the type of game Florida (20-20-4) needed to win if it’s going to climb back into the hunt for the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. Vancouver (17-21-3) is one of the worst teams in the league and the Panthers mostly controlled the game through two periods, even as they trailed multiple times.
The win, coming two days after Florida blew a third-period lead to the Stanley Cup-contending Vegas Golden Knights at the end of a four-game road trip, gets the Panthers within five points of the the New York Islanders for the eighth and final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference as they get ready to go back on the road for three more games, all against East foes. It’s the closest Florida has been to playoff position since before Christmas.
The only reason this game was competitive into the third period was a pair of gaffes by Sergei Bobrovsky, at the starts of the first and second. In the first two minutes, the star goaltender got beaten on the first shot of the game by a floating shot from Canucks forward Jack Studnicka from out near the blue line. After the Panthers tied the game later in the first on a rebound goal by left wing Ryan Lomberg, Bobrovsky gave up another soft goal on a perimeter shot by Vancouver defenseman Tyler Myers in the first minute of the second.
Florida’s deficit didn’t last long this time. Center Eric Staal scored on a deflection 1:06 later to tie the game at 2-2, and the Panthers were up 4-2 by the midpoint of the second period thanks to power-play goals by star defenseman Aaron Ekblad and star center Aleksander Barkov.
Even still, Florida struggled to close. A few days after blowing a third-period lead to the Golden Knights in Las Vegas, the Panthers nearly collapsed again. The Canucks scored on the power play with 9:58 to go to cut Florida’s lead to 4-3 — the Panthers’ 65 goals allowed in the third period are the most in the NHL — and spent the final few minutes trying to hang on after Vancouver outshot Florida 13-5 in the final period, as the Panthers registered just one shot on goal in the final 15:37.
