Panthers rally from multiple goals down twice, defeat Blue Jackets in OT

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Sam Bennett scored with four seconds remaining in overtime, and the Florida Panthers ended their four-game losing streak by rallying for a 7-6 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Bennett scored the winner in front after taking a pass from Brad Marchand on a 2-on-1 on a play set up by Gustav Forsling.

Bennett and Marchand each had a goal and three assists for the Panthers (13-12-2), who never led in the game and rallied from a three-goal deficit in the second period and a two-goal deficit in the third.

"It is great to see," Bennett said. "We really haven't been able to get that many comeback wins this year. It was the entire group. We showed we're going to fight right down to the very end in every game. It was nice to get rewarded."

Carter Verhaeghe scored twice and had an assist, and Seth Jones had a goal and an assist. Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves.

Dmitri Voronkov, Miles Wood, Cole Sillinger and Isac Lundestrom each had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets (13-9-6), who have lost three of five but have earned a point in each game (2-0-3). Elvis Merzlikins made 33 saves.

"Obviously when you score six goals, you give yourself a pretty good position to win," Sillinger said. "We were short for a little bit, and you don't want to give their power play any momentum. It was a high-energy game and both teams had their looks, both teams capitalized. I definitely thought we were in a good position, and the expectation is to close that game out."

Damon Severson gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 7:40 of the first period with a power-play goal. Evan Rodrigues tied it 1-1 at 9:47, waiting out Merzlikins after Mackie Samoskevich forced a turnover at the half wall and slid the puck to him.

The teams combined for seven goals in the second period.

Voronkov gave Columbus a 2-1 lead at 5:26 after deflecting a point shot from Ivan Provorov.

Wood scored off a feed from Charlie Coyle on the rush for a 3-1 lead at 5:57.

Marchenko scored on a backhanded shot to increase the lead to 4-1 at 10:24.

"We played hard, and I think we deserved better," Provorov said. "There were a couple bad bounces and then we were short-handed quite a bit for some reason. Any time you lose, you wish you won."

The Panthers scored the next three goals to tie the game.

Verhaeghe made it 4-2 at 11:15 when he deflected a point shot from Jones.

On the ensuing power play following a failed coach's challenge by Columbus for a hand pass, Verhaeghe scored again to cut the lead to 4-3 at 13:11 off a feed from Marchand.

Jones tied the game 4-4 at 16:12 on the power play.

"It felt like you needed to win that game, just because it was right there," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "We all felt it was right there. You can go into the room and say there are parts to your game you like, and parts you do not, but all of the pieces were part of that win."

Sillinger gave the Blue Jackets a 5-4 lead at 18:26 with a shot that skipped on the ice and was initially stopped by Bobrovsky but bounced off Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling and into the net.

Lundestrom made it 6-4 at 2:27 of the third period, scoring off the rush on a pass from Wood. It was his first goal in 76 games.

"There was a lot of special teams tonight but 5-on-5, we played a good game," said Lundestrom, who had not scored December 22 of last season when he was with the Anaheim Ducks.

Marchand pulled the Panthers within a goal when he jammed in a loose puck on his second attempt to make it 6-5 at 4:21.

Anton Lundell tied the game at 6-6 at 14:18, scoring off a pass from Eetu Luostarinen after Merzlikins came out to play the puck but was late getting back into position.

"We just kept battling, everyone chipped in," said Luostarinen, who returned after missing the past eight games due to burns on his lower body. "Huge win, it has been a rough patch here. We are going to use this."

Sam Reinhart was assessed a hooking penalty 58 seconds into overtime, but the Panthers killed it off. They went 3-for-4 on the penalty kill and 2-for-4 on the power play.

"This team is built on not quitting and on being built on adversity," Marchand said. "We showed that again tonight. … When you are challenged the way we have been as a group, it really tests you as a group. It brings a lot of out of you. We can push through that. And we're good at that."

NOTES: The Panthers won a game after overcoming a multi-goal deficit in two periods for the first time in franchise history. … Bennett is the fourth player in Panthers history to score in the final five seconds of overtime, joining Reinhart (4:59 on Jan. 11, 2024), Dave Lowry (4:56 on Oct. 30, 1993) and Jody Hull (4:55 on Nov. 22, 1996). … Luostarinen had an assist in 18:03 of ice time in his return to the lineup. … Florida has won nine straight against Columbus and 11 of the past 12 against them at home. …. Severson ended Bobrovsky's shutout streak against the Blue Jackets at 197:05. He had shut them out in each of his past three starts against them.