SUNRISE, Fla. _ Chris Driedger stretched out his right leg to protect the net from an incoming Los Angeles Kings shot attempt that ultimately went wide midway through the first period.
The puck cleared well past the Florida Panthers' goaltender, but Driedger remained down. A trainer checked on him before he was ultimately helped off the ice.
And with Sergei Bobrovsky scratched for the second consecutive game with an injury of his own, the Panthers' net belonged to Sam Montembeault for the final 50 minutes on Thursday.
He did just fine, keeping a shutout intact until midway through the third period while the Panthers built up a large enough lead to fend off a late Kings rally.
Final score: Florida 4, Los Angeles 3.
The Panthers (25-16-5) finished their four-game homestand on a three-game win streak to pick up six out of a possible eight points during this stretch on home ice. They followed up a 5-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 7 with wins over the Vancouver Canucks (5-2), Toronto Maple Leafs (8-4) and Kings. The Kings fall to 18-26-5 on the season.
Montembeault, who last played for the Panthers on Nov. 24 and has spent the nearly two months since with Florida's AHL affiliate Springfield (Mass.) Thunderbirds, stopped 23 of 26 shots that came his way _ including the first 18 _ after entering the game with 9:55 left in the first period. Driedger went 4 for 4 on save opportunities before leaving with the injury.
Montembeault was recalled Wednesday on emergency conditions, meaning he is up solely because the Panthers have fewer than two healthy goaltenders and must be sent back to the AHL as soon as they hit that two-goaltender minimum threshold. The Panthers also did this Sunday prior to their win over the Maple Leafs.
They didn't need Montembeault to step on the ice Sunday.
They did Thursday. He stepped up.
By early in the third period, a "Monty" chant briefly broke out among the crowd.
He also had help with the Panthers playing well in front of him.
He entered the game with a 1-0 lead with Evgenii Dadonov scoring a power-play goal on a snap shot from the low post 6:04 into the contest. It was Dadonov's team-leading 20th goal of the season.
Frank Vatrano doubled the lead about three minutes into the second period when he took a pass from Dominic Toninato and buried a slap shot into the back of the net. It was Vatrano's 11th goal of the season and his fourth in the last seven games.
Mike Matheson and Brian Boyle closed out the Panthers' scoring with a pair of early third-period goals to give Florida just enough of a cushion to sustain a late Kings rally. Matheson scored on the power play with 15:05 left in regulation on an assist from Aaron Ekblad. Boyle's wrist shot with 12:54 remaining was unassisted. It was Matheson's second consecutive game with a goal. Boyle scored for the first time since Dec. 21 at the Carolina Hurricanes.
Alex Iaffalo broke up the shutout with 8:18 left in regulation. Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar followed with back-to-back power-play goals to cut the Panthers' lead to one with 2:40 left to play.
