Knights battle back to tie, but lose in OT to Panthers, 4-3
SUNRISE, Fla. — The Golden Knights were looking for two points Friday at the BB&T Center but wound up getting just one.
These days, that’s cause for disappointment.
But that’s the mindset of a successful team that isn’t satisfied. Had the Knights managed to win, they would have shared the NHL’s best record with Tampa Bay with 31 wins and 65 points. Instead, they’ll have to settle for remaining the league’s second-best team at the moment with 64 points (30-11-4) after Aaron Ekblad’s goal 40 seconds into overtime broke a 3-3 tie and sent the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 victory in front of 17,468.
“We’ve been good in overtime, but it’s a tough loss,” forward James Neal said. “But we got a point, and we’ll move on.”
Neal tied the game 3-3 with 2:09 left in regulation with a wrist shot from the slot that beat James Reimer. It was Neal’s 20th goal, marking the 10th straight year he has scored 20 or more.
But Ekblad wound up the hero. He knocked in a rebound of Aleksander Barkov’s shot, beating Malcolm Subban for the winner. On the play, Subban made a strong save on Barkov, and the Knights tried to bat the puck out of their defensive zone. But Ekblad got to it first.
“They batted it right onto my stick and I got a little lucky it sat nice,” Ekblad said of his eighth goal, which gave Florida a split in the season series with the Knights. “We had some unfinished business against these guys, and we capitalized on our opportunities. It’s a great way to come back from the bye week”
The Panthers (19-19-6) had leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 only to see the Knights come back each time.
David Perron made it 1-1 with his 11th at 14:22 of the first period, and William Karlsson got the Knights even at 2-2 with his team-high 25th at 6:57 of the second period.
“We kind of played their game a little too much,” Karlsson said. “They got a lot of odd-man rushes. We need to get back to playing the way we’ve been playing successful.”
Knights coach Gerard Gallant said sometimes being disappointed can be good for a team.
“We should have gotten more than one point; we should have played better,” said Gallant, who was back at the Panthers’ home rink for the first time since they fired him as coach in November 2016. “That’s two overtime losses we’ve lost on the first shift, and that’s something we’ve got to make sure we get better at.”
They also need to get better at hitting the net. The Knights had a 36-26 edge in shots on goal Friday, but they also 16 missed shots, several of which were good scoring chances. Perron, Reilly Smith, Erik Haula and Colin Miller, in particular, had prime chances but were unable to finish.
“Miller missed that one, and if he hits the net it’s a goal,” Gallant said of Miller’s third-period rocket. “But you’ve got to shoot the puck if you want to score. You can’t fault them for pounding the puck, and I want our guys to shoot.”
The Knights will get Saturday off before wrapping up the four-game road trip Sunday in Raleigh, North Carolina, against the Carolina Hurricanes, a team which beat them 3-2 in a shootout Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena.
They’ve managed three points out of a possible six so far. A win against the ‘Canes would give them a winning record for the trip.
“We’ll put a lot of emphasis on that game and try to go home a happier club,” Neal said.
Three takeaways
1. Classy move. The Panthers showed a video tribute to Gerard Gallant late in the first period, resulting in a standing ovation for the former Florida coach. He saved to the crowd in appreciation. The video tribute indicates that Dale Tallon is firmly back in charge in Florida. Tallon hired Gallant but was not involved in his ouster.
2. No rust in Sunrise. For a team that hadn’t played in seven days, the Panthers displayed a lot of energy and speed and coming off their bye week. They kept things simple, and it forced the Knights to dig deep to compete. It also resulted in the Panthers getting to .500 with the OT win.
3. More power-play woes. The Knights went 0 for 3 on the power play Friday, and since returning from the bye Jan. 13 they have yet to score in 15 attempts. It might be time to change things up again.
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Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.