More late game heroics. Another shootout. But no win as Panthers fall to Blue Jackets
The Florida Panthers entered the third period against the Columbus Blue Jackets in all-too-familiar territory. Each of their first three games were tied either entering the third period or in the opening minutes of that final stanza of regulation.
Thursday night at Nationwide Arena, Florida’s second road game against Columbus in three days, was no different.
The only thing that was different: The Panthers couldn’t work their late-game magic this time.
Florida rookie center Eetu Luostarinen tied the game with just over seven minutes left in regulation but Alexandre Texier had the game-winning shootout goal to lead the Blue Jackets to a 3-2 win via shootout.
Carter Verhaeghe also scored Florida. He is now tied for the team lead with four goals. Chris Driedger stopped 29 of 31 shots but gave up the game-winning goal in the fourth round of the shootout.
Columbus’ Elvis Merzlikins stopped 35 of 37 shots from the Panthers and the four shootout attempts from Anthony Duclair, Jonathan Huberdeau, Frank Vatrano and Patric Hornqvist.
The Panthers still picked up a point and are 3-0-1 this season, earning seven of eight possible points so far through four games.
And those points haven’t come easy, with the Panthers playing either tied or from behind in the third period every game in this young season.
They were tied 2-2 with the Chicago Blackhawks with 17 minutes left in their season opener on Jan. 17 before Eetu Luostarinen, Horonqvist and Huberdeau closed the game with three unanswered goals for a 5-2 win.
They were again tied 3-3 entering the third period against the Blackhawks on Feb. 19 before winning 5-4 in overtime on a Frank Vatrano snap shot off an Aleksander Barkov feed with just over two minutes left in the five-minute extra period.
They were down 3-2 less than two minutes into the third period on Tuesday before Hornqvist batted a long shot from Aaron Ekblad into the net with 3 seconds left to force overtime. Hornqvist also scored the game-winner in the shootout.
They rallied to force overtime and pick up a point on Thursday, but couldn’t seal their fourth consecutive win to start the season.
“Anybody could take that,” defenseman Aaron Ekblad said, “but at the end of the day, never being satisfied is what makes you better and makes you more successful. I don’t think we’re walking out of here licking our wounds by any means, but we obviously have to know that we can beat a team like this and take the lead in games. There’s a lot to work on, no doubt.
“We can be happy about it, but never satisfied.”
How the scoring unfolded
The Blue Jackets (3-2-3) opened scoring when Mikko Koivu took a cross-net feed from Eric Robinson and fired a wrist shot past Driedger with 2:57 left in the first period. It was Koivu’s first goal for Columbus. The Blue Jackets led the Panthers in shots on goal (12-9), attempted shots (23-15) and hits (18-3) in the first period.
Verhaeghe tied the game late in the second when he tapped a rebound off a Duclair shot attempt past Merzlikins.
The Blue Jackets re-took the lead early in the third period with a rare power play goal. With Florida down a man and the Blue Jackets taking a faceoff in their offensive zone, Max Domi took a feed from Zach Werenski in the right circle and blasted a one timer past Driedger’s extended reach to go up 2-1 with 13:41 left in regulation. It was just the Blue Jackets’ second power play goal of the season.
Luostarinen, who scored the go-ahead goal in the Panthers’ season opener, gave Florida life again with a wrist shot in front of the net on feeds from Anton Stralman and Markus Nutivaara to tie the game 2-2 with 7:04 left in regulation.
Nutivaara debuts, Tippett to the taxi squad
Nutivaara, a defenseman who Florida acquired from the Blue Jackets in an October trade, made his Panthers debut on Thursday against his former team.
Nutivaara, who missed a majority of training camp while being deemed “unfit to play,” split time with Gustav Forsling as part of the Panthers’ second defensive pairing with Stralman.
“It feels so long that I last played,” Nutivaara said after the team’s morning skate on Thursday. “I have been waiting for this day for a while.”
In other roster moves, the Panthers sent rookie forward Owen Tippett to the taxi squad prior to Thursday’s game.
Tippett had spent the first three games as the right wing on the Panthers’ third forward line along with left wing Frank Vatrano and center Luostarinen, but his production has been minimal to this point. He has taken three shots on goal. Panthers coach Joel Quenneville only played Tippett for 12 shifts and 7:02 of ice time in Tuesday’s win. He did did not play the last 13:34 of the third or during overtime.
“We have a lot of guys here we’re still trying to assess,” Quenneville said pregame Thursday. “Whether it’s performance-based, right now, we have some guys who have played better than others. ... I think Tippett has a lot of great things going for him and I think whether he watches a game or two here along the way, that’s all part of growing and gaining some experience at the pro level.”
The Panthers only dressed 11 forwards on Thursday. Brett Connolly took Tippett’s spot on the third line. Quenneville rotated wingers on the fourth line with Noel Acciari and Vinnie Hinostroza.
500 games for Brett Connolly
Veteran forward Connolly played in his 500th career NHL game on Thursday.
For his career, Connolly has 188 career points (98 goals, 90 assists) and won a Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals in the 2018-2019 season before joining the Panthers.
Connolly played in all 69 games last year for Florida, scoring 19 goals and adding 14 assists.
“You go so many ups-and-downs during your career and you reflect on what I have been through it has gone fast,” Connolly said. “I am very proud to have played 500 games in this league and very privileged.”
Next up
The Panthers have an off day Friday before playing back-to-back games against against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday and Sunday to close out the four-game road trip.
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 9:47 PM.
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