Panthers survive late scare, beat Nashville to keep playoff hopes alive

To say the Florida Panthers are hanging on to their season by a thread might be generous — it’s more like a strand of dental floss.

It took a video replay wiping out an apparent Nashville Predators goal with 0.3 seconds remaining to give the Panthers an incredibly dramatic 2-1 victory Tuesday night.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Colton Sceviour scored, and Roberto Luongo made 45 saves as the Florida Panthers kept their slim playoff hopes alive.

Nashville’s Filip Forsberg appeared to score with 0.3 seconds left in the third period, but, upon review, the goal was wiped out for interference, giving Florida the win.

The Panthers, who have 90 points, are competing for the final wild-card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. They trail the Philadelphia Flyers, who lost on Monday, by four points. The Flyers have just two games remaining. The Panthers have three.

Florida got just enough offense to stay alive on Tuesday. It was Huberdeau’s 26th goal of the season. For Sceviour, elevated to the top line in Florida’s pervious game, it was his 10th goal of the season.

Luongo, who played his 999th career game, made numerous big saves one day before his 39th birthday. Luongo, who normally gets rest when the Panthers play on consecutive nights, beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Monday before taking down Nashville.

This story was originally published April 3, 2018 at 11:11 PM with the headline "Panthers survive late scare, beat Nashville to keep playoff hopes alive."