In Anaheim, the Florida Panthers took a 2-0 lead over the Ducks on Sunday on strikes from Carter Verhaeghe in the first period, Brandon Montour in the middle frame.
As is customary in the NHL, the Ducks rallied to tie the game in the second period on goals from Adam Henrique and Ryan Strome.
The two goals came 27 seconds apart.
“It’s a choice that you’re not going to take that route of being good or mediocre,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “Just coming in and having a good day, that’s not good enough when you’re at where we’re at. You have to come in and win today.”
Sam Reinhart scored two of the Panthers’ three goals in the third period to help Florida survive in a 5-3 win.
“It was nice to finish the road trip and salvage it a little bit (2-2-0),” Reinhart said. “Carry some momentum back home.”
Florida improved to 7-5-1.
Spencer Knight made 32 saves in the Panthers win.
Reinhart and Sam Bennett scored early in the third to give the Panthers a 4-2 lead.
“[Reinhart] gets some confidence and a couple goals on his birthday,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said.
Isac Lundestrom hit for a shorthanded goal in the third period to bring the Ducks to within one, after the Panthers had scored twice for a 4-2 lead.
“We’ve been able to score, it’s just a matter of, you have to be able to play in their zone more,” Strome said. “You can point to defensive systems and this and that, but I think we have gotten better defensively.”
Anaheim dropped to 4-8-1.
“It’s definitely big for our group to get a couple (of power-play goals) tonight,” Bennett said.
Reinhart hit for his second of the night in the final on the power.
John Gibson made 43 saves in the Ducks loss.
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