Panthers defeat Golden Knights in OT in Gallant's return

Aaron Ekblad scored 40 seconds into overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 4-3 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at BB&T Center on Friday.

Jamie McGinn, Aleksander Barkov and Evgenii Dadonov scored for the Panthers (19-19-6), who have won two of three after losing three straight. James Reimer made 33 saves.
WATCH: [All Golden Knights vs. Panthers highlights]
"It's huge," Ekblad said. "We had some unfinished business against these guys but we capitalized on our opportunities going in."

The Golden Knights defeated the Panthers 5-2 at Vegas on Dec. 17.
Barkov had three points (one goal, two assists) and has multiple points in three of his past four games.
"He's dangerous 5-on-5 and shorthanded as well," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said about Barkov. "He was the best player on the ice tonight."
David Perron, William Karlsson and James Neal scored for the Golden Knights (30-11-4). Vegas is 1-1-2 since returning from its five-day break. Malcolm Subban made 22 saves and lost for the first time in eight starts.

"It's tough. [A] frustrating loss," Subban said. "Little mistakes I made cost us the game. [There were] a couple of goals I could've easily stopped. A few mistakes made the difference."
It was the first game at Florida for Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant since being fired by the Panthers on Nov. 27, 2016. The Panthers recognized Gallant with a video tribute in the first period.
"I enjoyed my time here," Gallant said. "We had a good run here. It's not about me. The fans treated me really well and I appreciate that."
McGinn scored at 3:15 of the first period to give Florida a 1-0 lead. Subban poke-checked the puck to McGinn, who beat Subban five-hole.

Perron scored for the second straight game, at 14:22, tying the game 1-1.
The Panthers scored their NHL-leading ninth shorthanded goal of the season when Barkov poked in a rebound following a shot by Vincent Trocheck at 15:55 to make it 2-1. The goal was Barkov's fifth shorthanded this season.
Karlsson scored his 25th goal at 6:54 of the second period to make it 2-2. Dadonov scored at 3:35 of the third period to give Florida a 3-2 lead before Neal tied it 3-3 with 2:09 remaining.

Goal of the game

Ekblad's goal 40 seconds into overtime.

Save of the game

Reimer's save on Brayden McNabb at 9:32 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Neal's goal at 17:51 of the third period.

They said it

"I want to be consistent in my game. I'm a goal-scorer. I've been fortunate to play with great players along the way." -- Golden Knights forward James Neal
"They have a couple guys that were here last year and it's always fun to play against those guys, but on the ice, there are no friends. We just want to battle … for us it's the playoffs right now and we need to win every game, battle hard, and it doesn't matter who we play against, but of course it was nice and it was nice to see [Gallant] behind the bench." -- Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov on facing former coach Gerard Gallant and former teammates Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith

Need to know

Vegas has 64 points, one behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for most in the NHL. ... The Golden Knights are 1-for-32 on the power play dating to Dec. 23 and have not scored in seven games. ... Marchessault had zero points and Smith had an assist in their first game at Florida since being acquired by the Golden Knights in the NHL Expansion Draft. … Jonathan Huberdeau had an assist for the Panthers, putting him six from Rob Niedermayer (165) for sixth on their all-time list and eight from passing Pavel Bure (251) for ninth in points.

What's next

Golden Knights: At the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday (6 p.m. ET; FS-CR, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)
Panthers: At the Nashville Predators on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, FS-F, NHL.TV)