The Florida Panthers were in Los Angeles on Thursday night, looking to bounce back from a tough loss in Anaheim a couple nights ago.
Paul Mauriceâ€s Cats did just that, taking a lead into the third period and then building on it, ultimately defeating the Kings 5-2 at Crypto.com Arena.
Florida quickly got to work, jumping out to an early 1-0 lead just over two minutes into the game.
Cats center Sam Bennett plucked a Jeff Petry rebound off the pads of Anton Forsberg and deposited the puck into the net for his third goal of the season.
Not long after, Sergei Bobrovsky stoned Adrian Kempe with a stretching right pad save after the Kings†star forward got behind Floridaâ€s defense.
A holding the stick call on Brad Marchand led to a game-tying goal for the Kings.
Anze Kopitar, parked at the top of Bobrovksyâ€s crease, deflected a shot by Quentin Byfield to knot the score at one at the 9:23 mark of the opening period.
The tie game didnâ€t last long, though, as Mikey Anderson sprung Perry on a breakaway just 1:37 later and he sniped Bobrovsky to give the Kings their first lead of the night.
Exactly two and a half minutes before the end of the period, Brad Marchand tied the game after stealing the puck from Forsberg behind the LA net and quickly firing it into the empty cage to send the game into the intermission tied at two.
Florida re-took the lead just after the gameâ€s midway point, and it came on an odd-man rush.
Carter Verhaeghe led a 3-on-2 into the Kings†zone and after a give-and-go with Sam Reinhart, Verhaeghe sent a backhand pass to the slot, where Reinhart finished the play and put the Cats back in front with 8:15 to go in the middle frame.
It took a while, but the Panthers were eventually able to get that all important insurance goal, and it came at an unexpected time.
With Florida killing their fourth penalty of the night, Eetu Luostarinen stole the puck from Adrian Kempe at the Kings†blue line and sprung Anton Lundell on a breakaway.
Lundell wired a wrist shot that beat Forsberg cleanly through the legs, doubling the Panthers†lead to 4-2 with 11:19 to go in the game.
After that, the momentum was clearly in Floridaâ€s favor for the next several minutes.
Capping off an extended period of time possessing the puck in LAâ€s zone, Niko Mikkola forced a turnover as the Kings tried to exit.
Marchand was right there to collect the puck, turn toward Forsberg and send a nasty wrist shot over his glove, giving the Cats a 5-2 lead.
That would be more than enough for Bobrovsky and the defensive-minded Panthers.
Now weâ€ll see if Florida can build on the victory as they continue their four-game road trip.
On to San Jose.
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Photo caption: Nov 6, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9), center, is congratulated after scoring a goal in the first period against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images)
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