In Sunrise, the Panthers rallied late in the third period on Saturday to force extra time with the Washington Capitals.
The Panthers’ ended the festivities with 70 seconds left in extra session for a 3-2 win over the Caps.
“I saw Bennett grab the puck, and that was my first shift in overtime, so I had fresh legs,” Forsling said. “Bennett made an unreal pass.”
Anthony Stolarz made 22 saves in the win.
“If you look at the way we play, you see we like defensive structure,” Stolarz said. “With that in mind, [Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky] and I know you have to make big saves. Lindgren played a great game tonight. When you see him down there making big saves, you know you have to step up your game.”
The Panthers moved to 38-16-4.
“We got good goaltending, our penalty kill has been outstanding,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “Although we didn’t get it done on the PK tonight, that’s OK.”
After a scoreless opening stanza, the Panthers’ Nick Cousins scored at 4:03 of the middle frame.
The Caps dropped to 26-21-9).
“The ending was tough because we did a lot of good things through the game,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “There was not much going on either way, but both teams are very structured, so there were not a lot of grade A chances on either side.”
Sonny Milano scored off the power play at 18:31 of the second period to tie it, 1-1, headed to the third period. and
Tom Wilson hit off for another power play goal midway through the period for a 2-1 lead.
“It f
elt like we could have won that game,” Wilson said. “The guys battled hard and executed well for the most part. There were a couple of things which ended up being the difference. It’s tight right now, playoff-type of hockey. You have to come up with those little things to push it our way. [Florida] did a little bit more and got it done.”
Charlie Lindgren made 26 saves in the loss.
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