Panthers rally past Minnesota with three-goal third, win 4-2

In Sunrise Friday, the Florida Panthers hung three goals on the scoreboard in the third period to rally past the visiting Minnesota Wild for 4-2 win.

Jonathan Huberdeau struck twice in the win including the game-tying goal in the third period.

“He’s been in a little bit of a drought lately and wasn’t shooting enough,” Florida head coach Bob Boughner said. “We talked to him before the game about taking more pucks to the net and stop looking for the pass so much, and hopefully he took it to heart because it looked like he did.”

Connor Brickley struck for the game-winner in the middle of Huberdeau’s pair.

“It’s kind of hard to put in words really, the feeling,” Brickley said. “That’s just being a professional and you just have to do what you gotta do. You just have to be ready no matter what. Crazy things happen in this game. I was excited to get the opportunity to get out there.”

Ryan Suter and Daniel Winnik had the Wild goals.

“We made a couple of mistakes (in the third period), and they put it in,” Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau said. “Then you’re fighting from behind and chasing the game.”

James Reimer made 29 saves for the win as the Panthers improved to 14-16-5.

“[Goalie James Reimer] played solid. I thought we were pretty good in front of him. I didn’t think we gave up a heck of a lot, which was important. I thought our defensive effort was good. He came up with the saves, especially when they had the goalie pulled. It was nice to see him play another solid game,” Boughner said of Reimer after the win.

Vincent Trocheck also scored for Florida.

“Obviously, it’s a great character win coming back from a deficit like that against a great team over there,” Trocheck said. “It was just determination. We started off in the third period with no quit.”

[WATCH: All Wild vs. Panthers highlights]

Alex Stalock made 30 saves in the loss as the Wild dropped to 18-14-3 and have lost three of their last four matches.

“It’s very frustrating and not the first time it’s happened to us too. It seems to be a recurring theme; unfortunately, that’s not what playoff teams do. We’ve got to buckle down in the third with the lead, and it’s got to be a point or two points every single time,” Winnik said after the loss.