Matthew Tkachuk gave the visiting Florida Panthers their first lead in regulation this season when he scored at 11:20 of the third period and they held on for a 2-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
Sam Bennett passed to Tkachuk trailing on a rush following a turnover in the neutral zone and he squeezed the puck between the pads of Darcy Kuemper from the left faceoff circle for a 2-1 lead.
Seth Jones also scored and Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves for the Panthers in the finale of their season-opening four-game road trip.
Alex Laferriere scored and Kuemper made 26 saves for the Kings, who are still winless on the season.
The Kings took a 1-0 lead at 19:00 of the first period after winning a battle for the puck behind the Florida net.
Los Angeles forward Erik Haula brought the puck above the goal line and took a shot from the bottom of the right circle that was blocked by Niko Mikkola, but the puck came to Laferriere at the bottom of the opposite circle and he swept it into the net.
After the Kings could not take advantage of a 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:21 and bridged the first and second periods, the Panthers tied it seconds later.
Lars Eller fed Jones coming down the left side just as Dmitry Kulikov was coming out of the penalty box. Jones skated around Kings forward Artemi Panarin before scoring from in close to tie it 1-1 at 3:49 of the second.
Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen limped to the locker room midway through the second period after getting hit by a shot but quickly returned.
Florida forward Brad Marchand, however, did not return after his leg folded awkwardly beneath him while driving to the net in the final minute of the second period.
A four-minute high-sticking double minor was called on Brandt Clarke, but the Panthers could not take the lead during that span.
The Panthers lost team captain Aleksander Barkov to a lower-body injury against the San Jose Sharks last Thursday, and he was subsequently placed on long-term injured reserve.
–Field Level Media
