SUNRISE, Fla. – J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime and the Vancouver Canucks got their first win of the season, beating the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Thursday night.
Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes had goals for Vancouver (1-1-2), with Kevin Lankinen stopping 26 shots.
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Anton Lundell got his fourth goal in the last three games for Florida (3-2-1) and Jesper Boqvist also scored for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.
Florida remained without forwards Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).
Takeaways
Canucks: Scoring first hasn’t been an issue for Vancouver, which has taken the first lead in three of its four games so far. But Miller’s score saved the night for the Canucks, who improved to 2-8-0 in their last 10 games in the state of Florida.
Panthers: Mackie Samoskevich got an assist on Florida’s first goal, the first career point for the 24th pick in the 2021 draft out of Michigan. It came in his 13th NHL game.
Key moment
Hughes’ goal at 6:30 of the second period for a 2-1 Vancouver lead was one that Florida said shouldn’t have counted. Linesman Michel Cormier dropped the puck for a faceoff, but it never hit the ice and bounced off Vancouver’s Nils Aman. The Panthers thought that should be a hand pass. The NHL disagreed and Aman got an assist on Hughes’ score.
Key stat
Lundell has stepped up in a big way with Barkov out of the lineup. He’s got four goals in a three-game span for the first time and his three-game goals-coring streak ties a career best.
Up next
Both teams are back in action Saturday, Vancouver going to Philadelphia and Florida remaining home to face Vegas in a matchup of the last two Stanley Cup winners.
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