Lundell breaks tie late in 3rd, Panthers edge Mammoth

SALT LAKE CITY -- Anton Lundell scored the go-ahead goal with 52 seconds remaining in the third period, and the Florida Panthers defeated the Utah Mammoth 4-3 at Delta Center on Wednesday.

Lundell tapped in a deflection by Eetu Luostarinen at the left post following Sam Reinhart’s pass from the right boards.

“It's good for the confidence to play a good game,” Lundell said. “It was hard. There's no easy games in this league, and I'm proud of how the team fought today.”

Sam Bennett had two goals and an assist, and Carter Verhaeghe extended his goal streak to four games and had an assist for the Panthers (15-12-2), who have won three in a row. Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves.

“I think it's great that you can come out in the third period excited and not forget about yesterday,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “It was two days off after a back to back, so you're worried about coming out a little slow. I thought it was OK, and I thought we got better in the back half of the second period.”

Dylan Guenther scored twice, and Jack McBain also had a goal for the Mammoth (14-15-3), who have lost three in a row and seven of their past nine (2-7-0). Karel Vejmelka made 32 saves.

“Obviously, a tough pill to swallow, the way it happened,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think we showed a lot of character being down by two goals and coming back in the game and giving ourselves a chance… I think in the third period, we got in trouble, got in the (penalty) box. That's how they got their momentum.”

Guenther gave the Mammoth a 1-0 lead at 11:23 of the first period, beating Bobrovsky between the legs on a breakaway.

“I thought we played pretty well, and even in the third, I thought we managed it well,” Guenther said. They got up early and we came back and fought hard. I thought we played well, but won't get the two points at the end.”

The Panthers responded with three goals in a span of 4:07 from the end of the first to the early part of the second period, all by the line of Bennett, Verhaeghe, and Brad Marchand.

Verhaeghe tied it 1-1 at 19:17, tipping in a shot from Aaron Ekblad. Bennett then put Florida ahead 2-1 at 1:40 of the second when he beat Vejmelka with a wrist shot on the blocker side.

Bennett’s second goal of the game 1:44 later extended it to 3-1 at 3:24, tapping in a pass from Verhaeghe.

“Two of those guys have world-class speed, and Marchand’s hands can find them and find the open areas,” Maurice said. “They're skating incredibly well, and Bennett has, I think it's probably from Game 12, he's had a point a game. So, Sam Bennett is as good a player as there is in the League right now.”

Said Bennett: “I think we've just done a good job using our speed, getting hard on the forecheck, and then we were able to create some turnovers and get some starting opportunities. It's been awesome playing with those guys, it's a lot of fun. They make some great plays, and they play hard. So, yeah, just enjoying it right now.”

Guenther’s second goal 13 seconds later made it 3-2 at 3:37 after he beat Bobrovsky five-hole on another breakaway.

McBain tied it 3-3 at 14:37, sliding the puck past Bobrovsky on a rebound off a shot by Sean Durzi.

The Panthers now have points in four straight games (3-0-1), their longest point streak of the season.

“When [Luostarinen] came back and Carter came back, those are two really good players that come back into your lineup,” Maurice said. “Some fun came back into our game. We're probably about 150 to 160 man-games (lost to injuries), and we're still not halfway through the season. That's a lot of pressure to put on some veteran guys. They've handled it pretty well.”

NOTES: The Panthers are the only team with multiple go-ahead goals in the final minute of regulation this season (Verhaeghe at 59:34 in a 4-3 win at the Boston Bruins on Oct. 21). ... Guenther recorded his seventh multigoal game with the Mammoth and surpassed Clayton Keller for the most in franchise history. … Verhaeghe, who extended his point streak to seven games (seven goals, six assists) recorded his 79th multipoint game with the Panthers and surpassed Scott Mellanby (78) for sixth most in franchise history.