Montour, Panthers top Blackhawks in OT, gain in East wild card race

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Brandon Montour scored at 2:43 of overtime, and the Florida Panthers recovered for a 4-3 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at FLA Live Arena on Friday.

Montour scored with a spinning backhand one-timer off a feed from Aleksander Barkov after Cole Guttman tied it 3-3 for Chicago with 45 seconds remaining in the third period with a backhand on a rebound.
"We believe in ourselves," Montour said. "We were getting chances and it was bound to happen."
Matthew Tkachuk had three assists in the third period, and Eetu Luostarinen, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart each scored in the third for the Panthers (33-27-6), who have won three in a row. Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves.
Florida moved within two points of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Panthers have played two more games.

Caleb Jones, Boris Katchouk also scored for the Blackhawks (22-37-6), who have lost six of seven (1-5-1). Petr Mrazek made 39 saves.
"They pushed, and we knew they were going to be desperate and push," Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. "They're playing for a playoff spot. I thought we persevered on the 6-on-5 and never gave up. That's been our kind of M.O. all year, and it's really good to see the guys not get discouraged. I thought we stay composed and calm and did the job to get it to overtime, and unfortunately they got the bounce, but we had our chances in overtime."
The Panthers trailed 2-0 after two periods before rallying with three goals in the third to take a 3-2 lead.
"For sure there was frustration," Tkachuk said. "Let's be real here, that's a team ranked 30th in the League. We needed the win more than they did. To be down 2-0 at any point in that game was frustrating.
"But we know they still have stuff to play for and those are tough games. It was not the start we wanted, but we did a good job in the third. We heard some boos there, but turned it around at the end and heard some cheers."
Bennett cut it to 2-1 at 8:29 of the third period, tapping in Tkachuk's pass across the goal mouth before Reinhart's power-play goal 29 seconds later tied it 2-2 at 8:58 when he tipped Tkachuk's shot from the top of the right face-off circle.
Luostarinen gave Florida a 3-2 lead at 12:42 with a shot from the high slot after taking a pass from Tkachuk.
"We were tight for two periods," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "There is a pressure in all of these games and we feel it every time we come to the rink. It was a must-win game, and you could feel it.
"We were not moving our feet; we were struggling to get things going. What they are good at, you saw on their first two goals. We were behind it then I think they relaxed, the pressure came off and they started to skate. These guys want to win so bad."

Jones put the Blackhawks ahead 1-0 at 6:49 of the first period on a 3-on-1 after taking a pass from Taylor Raddysh.
Katchouk made it 2-0 at 17:53 when he deflected Joey Anderson's diagonal pass from the top of the right circle to the slot.
"I think we started the game the way we wanted to," Chicago defenseman Jarred Tinordi said. "We were moving our feet. We were making plays. We were playing a north-south game and then we just got away from it. In the third period, I think we stopped moving our feet, we started watching the play a little bit more, and it's going to get you into trouble every time."
NOTES: Zach Andrews served as an emergency backup goalie for the Blackhawks after Alex Stalock was ruled out with a non-COVID illness. … Chicago forward Anders Bjork left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury. Richardson said he would not be available against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and a player would be recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League. … Barkov's assist on the game-winner was his 22nd overtime point, tying Jonathan Huberdeau for most in Panthers history. … Florida forward Anthony Duclair missed the game with a non-COVID illness.