SUNRISE, Fla. - A solid first 50 minutes helped the Carolina Hurricanes build a three-goal lead, but a late Florida Panthers comeback erased that advantage and eventually dealt the visitors a 4-3 shootout loss at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday.
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A tense tussle from puck drop, Carolina drew first blood 11:53 into the tilt as Jordan Staal poked home a loose rebound in the crease. Chances ensued for both clubs, but neither found twine until Sebastian Aho took over with two tucks in a span of 6:06 early in the third period.
His first, a breakaway bolt that found passage between the legs of Sergei Bobrovsky, doubled the Canes' lead and provided some breathing room just 87 seconds into the frame. Aho then converted on a power play to make it 3-0, picking up an Andrei Svechnikov rebound and wiring it into the top corner with just over 12 minutes remaining.
From there, though, the Panthers went to work and clawed back into the contest, generating energy with more hits, more shots and some line-toeing antics. But while the Hurricanes were happy to answer Florida's elevated level of physicality, the Cats still managed to tilt the ice and convert a trio of chances in the final 10 minutes, the latter two of which came with Bobrovsky on the bench for an extra attacker.
Both teams enjoyed a handful of scoring chances in overtime, but neither could cash in. And despite Carolina's recent shootout success and Jackson Blake keeping their hopes alive in the third round, goals from Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues gave the Panthers the edge in the breakaway battle.
Brandon Bussi finished with a career-high 38 saves and was stellar for much of the matchup against the team that signed him this past offseason, but had his franchise-record-tying winning streak end at nine.
