Mike Santorelli scored the tying goal late in the third period and the only goal in a shootout to lift the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lighting on Saturday.
Trailing by one with 3 minutes remaining in regulation, Santorelli pounced on a rebound in front of the Lightning net to force overtime and secured the win with a wrist shot over the glove of Tampa Bay goalie Dan Ellis in the shootout.
“I just went to the net, stood there and the puck popped out,” Santorelli said of the tying goal. “It was nice to get the two points out of here. It was huge. We just need to keep it going the rest of the road trip.”
The Panthers narrowly survived a tripping penalty to Radek Dvorak in the overtime period as Steve Stamkos, the NHL’s top goal scorer, rang a slap shot off the goal post.
Lightning defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron opened the scoring when he blasted a slap shot through a maze of people early in the first period.
David Booth tied the game in the second when a shot by teammate Dennis Wideman ricocheted of his shin pads and in.
Sean Bergenheim restored the Lightning lead 14 seconds into the third period as he tapped in a loose puck in front of the Florida net.
Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen made 34 saves and went a perfect three-for-three in the shootout.
CANUCKS 5, STARS 2
In Vancouver, Daniel Sedin scored twice and added an assist to take over the NHL scoring lead and lift the Vancouver Canucks to a win over the slumping Dallas Stars.
Sedin, a winger from Sweden, opened the scoring on a sharp--angle shot 2 minutes and 46 seconds into the game, and added his 32nd goal of the season at 7:39 into the third period to give the Canucks a 3-1 lead.
Dallas captain Brenden Morrow cut into the lead with 6:27 left, but Sedin set up his twin brother, Henrik, on a three-on-one just over 2 minutes later.
That gave Daniel Sedin 77 points, two more that Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos for the NHL lead.
Raycroft made 33 saves for the Stars, who have only one win in nine games.
DEVILS 4, ISLANDERS 1
In Raleigh, North Carolina, Dainius Zubrus scored goals in the first and third periods as the surging New Jersey Devils got their season-best seventh straight victory.
The Devils, who are fighting to get into the playoffs after a miserable start, are 10 points behind the eighth-place Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference race.
Henrik Tallinder and Brian Rolston also had goals for the Devils, who beat Carolina for the third time in 12 days.
Patrick Dwyer scored for Carolina in the third period to deny Johan Hedberg consecutive shutouts on back-to-back nights.
ISLANDERS 3, KINGS 0
In Uniondale, New York, Al Montoya made 35 saves in his first NHL start in nearly two years as the New York Islanders shut out Los Angeles.
Matt Moulson scored twice against his brother-in-law — Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick — and Frans Nielsen added a goal for New York, which has won six of 10 games this month. Montoya got his second career shutout.
In other NHL action, it was:
‧ Coyotes 3, Predators 2
‧ Blues 9, Ducks 3
‧ Oilers 5, Thrashers 3
‧ Senators 1, Maple Leafs 0, SO
‧ Sharks 4, Avalanche 0
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