Ducks recover to defeat Panthers in shootout

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Leo Carlsson had a short-handed goal and an assist for the Anaheim Ducks in their 3-2 shootout win against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.

Lukas Dostal made 31 saves, then stopped two of three attempts in the shootout for the Ducks (5-3-1), who blew a two-goal lead in the third period. They finished 3-1-1 on a five-game road trip.

“We lost a tough one the other night and I liked our response,” Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville said, referring to his team’s 4-3 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. “We hung in there, found a way to get the extra [point] there.”

Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart scored, and Daniil Tarasov made 15 saves for the Panthers (5-5-1).

“We battled, battled hard and Tarasov kept us in that game,” Lundell said. “Without him, we would have ended with no points. We had our chances, but unfortunately didn’t get that last goal.”

Lundell cut it to 2-1 at 11:12 of the third, scoring from in close off a backhand feed from Mackie Samoskevich after Eetu Luostarinen dug the puck out of the left corner.

Reinhart then tied it 2-2 at 16:54 when he deflected Seth Jones’ point shot at the edge of the crease with Tarasov pulled for the extra attacker. He has scored in three straight games (three goals).

“You see one go in and it gave us a little bit of life,” Jones said. “We got our forecheck going a little bit, turned some pucks over, got skating a little more. We have had trouble kind of putting them in lately. … We get a point out of this game and they all count later in the season. So, that was important.”

The Panthers went on the power play with 2:06 left in overtime after Mason McTavish was called for hooking, but they did not score. Dostal made four saves during the power play, including a stop of Lundell’s between-the-legs attempt from in tight with 27 seconds left.

“[Heck] of a job by our team. Big PK,” Dostal said of his team going 4-for-4 on the power play.

“That was the difference today. I felt this was a really good road trip, thought we could have gotten some points out of Tampa, but when we recap the road trip, I think we did a great job. We’ll keep moving forward. I felt today was our best game of the season.”

Carlsson gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 9:59 of the second period. He and Troy Terry came through the Florida zone on an odd-man rush, and the two crisscrossed before Carlsson one-timed Terry’s pass from the right face-off circle to finish a give-and-go.

Cutter Gauthier extended it to 2-0 during a 5-on-3 power play at 12:27. He scored with a one-timer from low in the right circle off a pass from Jackson LaCombe.

“Give a team with skill a chance 5-on-3 and, chances are, they are going to score on those,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said.

NOTES: Carlsson had the 18th multipoint game of his career to pass Trevor Zegras for the most by a Ducks player before age 21. Carlsson turns 21 on Dec. 26. … It was Quenneville’s first game against Florida since he resigned as Panthers coach on Oct. 28, 2021, after he was named in an independent investigation into the Chicago Blackhawks for allegations by former player Kyle Beach of sexual assault by then-video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010. Quenneville was 79-40-13 in three seasons with the Panthers and 3-7 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. … Terry has seven points (three goals, four assists) in a five-game point streak. … Panthers forward Brad Marchand did not play. He is away from the team due to a death “within his family circle,” Maurice said.