First place in the NHL’s Central Division was on the line Wednesday when the Carolina Hurricanes faced the Florida Panthers.
The Panthers took it.
Jonathan Huberdeau completed a tremendous night with a breakaway for an overtime game and a 4-3 win. Huberdeau had a goal, assist and the OT winner, beating goalie Alex Nedeljkovic.
Juho Lammikko’s first NHL goal, at 12:06 of the third, pushed the Panthers (10-2-2) in front 3-2. The shot, a backhander, got through goalie Alex Nedeljkovic at the shortside post, the puck trickling across the goal line.
The Canes (10-3-1) quickly answered on a power play. Vincent Trocheck, in his first game against the team that traded him to Carolina last year, set up to the left of the net, kept his stick on the ice and redirected a pass from Andrei Svechnikov for his seventh of the season -- the fourth straight game Carolina has had a power-play score.
The Canes controlled much of the first period and took a 2-0 lead late in the period when Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho scored bang-bang goals 22 seconds apart. It was the fourth straight goal Staal has scored, continuing his hot streak.
The Panthers regrouped as Huberdeau made big plays and goalie Chris Driedger made some big saves. Huberdeau had a power-play goal in the second period, then set up Alex Wennberg for a tying goal early in the third.
The Panthers’ goal came soon after they had killed off a Carter Verhaeghe goaltender-interference penalty he picked up at the end of the second period. Patric Hornqvist swiped the puck from Svechnikov along the wall in the Florida zone and got it up to Huberdeau., whose pass to Wennberg was on the tape as he beat Brady Skjei to the net.
Huberdeau had a power-play goal in the first for Florida, which trailed 2-0 after the first.
