Panthers rally past Hurricanes with 5 unanswered goals

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Anton Lundell scored the go-ahead goal at 7:00 of the third period for the Florida Panthers, who erased a two-goal deficit by scoring five unanswered goals for a 5-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Tuesday.

Florida also defeated Carolina 4-3 in a shootout on Dec. 19 after erasing a three-goal deficit in the third period.

Niko Mikkola, Luke Kunin, Sam Bennett and Seth Jones also scored for the Panthers (20-14-2), who have won five of the past six games and eight of the past 10. Sam Reinhart had three assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves.

“That third period is (all) the players. They handled all that,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “I was responsible for the first two. I didn’t have the team ready to play tonight.

“It was really, really important, whether we won or lost the game, that we could find a way to right the ship and play a hard, smart third period. That was their task, and they accomplished it.”

Eric Robinson and Andrei Svechnikov scored for the Hurricanes (22-11-3), who have lost three in a row (0-2-1) after a five-game winning streak. Frederik Andersen made 18 saves in his first start since Dec. 4.

"We just tried to do things differently than we were doing," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We made a few errors. I will call them 'young' mistakes, guys that are out there probably playing a little above where they should be. And good teams make you pay. That's kind of what happened."

Florida scored three goals in the first seven minutes of the third period to take the lead.

Mikkola cut the deficit to 2-1 with his first of the season at 3:53 of the third when his one-timer deflected off the skate of Hurricanes defenseman Alexander Nikishin and into the net.

"You could feel and see how we responded after those two periods," Mikkola said. "(The third period) was like a playoff period for us. I'm really happy how we showed up in the third. We started hitting, and I think that was the key today."

Kunin tied the game 2-2 at 6:17. Aaron Ekblad’s shot rebounded off Noah Gregor in front, and Kunin finished the rebound from the left face-off circle.

"I think we were rolling there in the third, line after line," Kunin said. "Everyone was doing a good job of keeping it simple and playing to our game."

Lundell made it 3-2 when he beat Anderson's blocker with a shot short side from the left circle off a Reinhart pass from behind the net.

Bennett pushed the lead to 4-2 at 9:57 when he gathered a loose puck in the right circle, spun and sent a shot blocker side on Andersen.

Jones scored a power-play goal at 15:21, beating a diving Andersen with a wrist shot from low in the right circle for the 5-2 final.

"It's got to be, starting from me and the other leaders in this room, we've got to be better playing with the lead and playing with some confidence in the third," Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. "We just sat back and turned pucks over.

"I think the guys shelled up a bit. We've got to have some confidence in our group. I mean, our team is good. There's got to be more confidence in the third to bury teams."

Robinson put the Hurricanes up 1-0 at 4:11 of the first period with a wrist shot from the edge of the right face-off circle that fluttered past Bobrovsky.

Svechnikov made it 2-0 at 1:58 of the second period when collected a stretch pass from Staal directly out of the penalty box and put a wrist shot between Bobrovsky's pads on a breakaway.

The Hurricanes outshot the Panthers 16-8 in the first two periods.

Bobrovsky kept the game close in the second period, when he made an early left pad save on Logan Stankoven. In the next few minutes, he made big stops on Taylor Hall and Staal, who redirected a shot at the top of the crease.

“They got the quality chances. Not much, but the quality is high,” Bobrovsky said. “So you just have to be focused and do your best to help the team."

NOTES: Panthers forward Brad Marchand earned an assist on Jones’ goal to extend his point streak to six games (four goals, six assists). ... Bobrovsky tied Terry Sawchuk (445) for the eighth-most wins in NHL history. ... Florida forward Mackie Samoskevich missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. ... The Hurricanes dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen. ... Andersen is 0-5-2 in his past seven starts.