SUNRISE, Fla. _ The Florida Panthers weren't perfect on Friday night, but they was good enough. The Minnesota Wild made the final mistake.
Panthers forward Connor Brickley scored the game-winning goal with 8:46 remaining in the third period, lifting Florida to its second straight win. Brickley, a late addition to the lineup, pounded in a rebound of Keith Yandle's shot to win the front half of a home back-to-back at the BB&T Center.
Jonathan Huberdeau scored twice and Vincent Trocheck added another for the Panthers, but Florida struggled to generate offense otherwise early on.
Top-line star forwards Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov combined for zero shots in the first two periods. In the opening 40 minutes, Florida didn't produce a single high-danger scoring chance. The first three Panthers power plays yielded five shots on goal, but none beat Stalock.
The offensive struggles have served as the backdrop for the Panthers sluggish opening half of the season. Outside of Barkov, Trocheck, Huberdeau and Evgenii Dadonov, the forward depth is lacking. That quartet is responsible for nearly half of Florida's points this season.
Contributions from elsewhere in the lineup have been sparse. Nick Bjugstad has been strong with the top line, even if Boughner wants him to capitalize on more chances. Jared McCann has been a streaky scorer. The offseason additions of Radim Vrbata and Jamie McGinn have been quiet for long stretches of the season.
McGinn was a late scratch on Friday night with an upper-body injury. He participated in pregame warmups but didn't play, with Brickley replacing him in the lineup.
The Panthers have scored more than two goals just twice in their last six games, and haven't hit at least four since a Dec. 7 win over Winnipeg. The offense that Florida leaned on early this season disappeared.
But Florida found it late on Friday night, just as it did on Tuesday night in Arizona.
Trocheck's goal capped a superb possession in which linemates Dadonov and Denis Malgin, along with defensemen Alexander Petrovic and MacKenzie Weegar, held the puck in Minnesota's zone for 30 seconds. The puck found its way to Trocheck at the top of the right circle and he slung a shot from the boards to tie the game at 1 with 3:07 remaining in the first period.
Huberdeau's goal came when he embarrassed Wild defenseman Nate Prosser in the third period. Huberdeau carried the puck down the left side of the ice, cut towards the center, then toe-dragged towards the net. He slid a backhand shot past Stalock that tied the game at 2.
Minnesota's first goal came on the power play 8:09 into the first period, when Ryan Suter's shot from the point was deflected, bounced off the ice to beat Panthers goalie James Reimer. It was the second power-play goal Florida allowed in its last 30 times shorthanded.
Wild forward Daniel Winnik scored with 9:26 remaining in the second period, stuffing in his own rebound after he held off a challenge from Alexander Petrovic.
The game served as the latest chance for the Panthers to reverse a season spent in the Eastern Conference basement. Florida hasn't won three games yet this season and entered Friday nine points out of a playoff spot.
"We've talked about seven times that in order to make the playoffs, definitely need to go on a three-game streak or rolls," Trocheck said recently. "Might be a good time to start."
