Sam Bennett scored with four seconds left in overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 7-6 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. The Panthers overcame three separate multi-goal deficits in a wild game at Amerant Bank Arena. Bennett and Brad Marchand each recorded four points in the comeback win.
The Columbus Blue Jackets opened the scoring at 7:40 of the first period when Damon Severson deflected a shot from Ivan Provorov for a power-play goal, making it 1-0. Evan Rodrigues tied the game at 1-1 at 9:47, waiting out goaltender Elvis Merzlikins after a turnover forced by Mackie Samoskevich.
The second period saw seven combined goals. Dmitri Voronkov put Columbus ahead 2-1 at 5:26 by deflecting a Provorov shot. Miles Wood extended the lead to 3-1 at 5:57 on a rush feed from Charlie Coyle. Kirill Marchenko made it 4-1 at 10:24 with a backhand shot.
Carter Verhaeghe cut the deficit to 4-2 at 11:15 by tipping a Seth Jones shot, but controversy arose as the puck appeared to hit Marchand's glove. Columbus challenged for a hand pass, but officials ruled it a deflection, confirming the goal under NHL Rule 79. The failed challenge gave Florida a power play, on which Verhaeghe scored again at 13:11 to make it 4-3, assisted by Marchand. Jones tied it 4-4 at 16:12 on the power play.
Cole Sillinger regained the lead for Columbus at 18:26, 5-4, as his shot bounced off Gustav Forsling and past Sergei Bobrovsky.
In the third, Isac Lundestrom scored his first goal as a Blue Jacket at 2:27 off a Wood pass, making it 6-4. Marchand answered at 4:21, jamming in a loose puck for 6-5. Anton Lundell tied it at 6-6 at 14:18 after Merzlikins misplayed the puck.
Overtime ended quickly when Marchand passed to Bennett on a 2-on-1 rush, set up by Forsling, for the winner with four seconds left. Merzlikins made 33 saves on 40 shots, while Bobrovsky stopped 25 of 31. The Panthers improved to 13-12-2, ending a four-game skid. Columbus, now 13-9-6, extended their point streak to five games (2-0-3).
