Colby Guy
SUNRISE — When the Florida Panthers were down 3-0 with ten minutes left in the second period Thursday night, Lucas Carlsson came through with a goal he will remember for the rest of his life.
With a slapshot from the point, Carlsson scored his first NHL goal and sparked a three-goal second period that helped the Panthers get a 7-4 comeback win over the Buffalo Sabres.
“It felt great to get the first one,” Carlsson said.
That goal originally belonged to Sam Reinhart, well at least by the in-house NHL crew who announced in the second period.
Carlsson, who knew the goal was his, found out it was officially his in the third period when the scoring change was announced to the fans at FLA Live Arena.
“It was great,” Carlsson said. “When I heard it during the third period there, the fans were screaming, so it was pretty cool.”
It was a long road for the 24-year-old defenseman to get to this point.
Carlsson is from Sweden and has spent the last four years in North America, playing 25 NHL games and 143 NHL games before getting to this moment.
“It’s my fourth year here … so it’s just great to get some games going here,” Carlsson said. “I’ve been called up and down from the AHL to the NHL, so it’s just great to get some confidence up here.”
After being drafted in the fourth round in 2016 by the Chicago Blackhawks and arriving in North America in 2018, he has spent a lot of his time waiting for that NHL chance.
He got it a few times, having stints at the NHL level in each of his last two seasons with Chicago before being traded to the Panthers as part of the Brett Connolly salary dump which cost Florida Henrik Borgstrom and Riley Stillman.
Carlsson received a call-up to Florida this season after an injury to Markus Nutivaara provided an opening on the Panthers’ blueline.
With Gus Forsling also week-to-week, he was given a bigger role on the team and it has paid off.
“I think he’s come in and gotten his feet wet,” interim coach Andrew Brunette said. “He’s been kind of in and out a little bit and he’s kind of taken the ball and he’s not letting go.
“He’s doing a little bit of everything for us, I think offensively tonight, he was around. Even last game he was being dangerous and he’s got a heavy shot and I’m extremely happy that he’s kind of found his game here.”
The Sabres struck back just over a minute later with a goal of their own.
Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled from the game and Spencer Knight took over in net for the Panthers.
“To get the spark, I thought we were kind of coming and that goes in, just try to change momentum a little bit,” Brunette said on the change.
“It wasn’t anything with [Bobrovsky,] our breakdowns were horrific in the first period and we didn’t give him any help there, so it was just trying to get some momentum.”
Knight came up huge for Florida, stopping all 19 shots he faced after entering the game in relief.
“He was great. I haven’t tried to be a goalie but it’s not an easy place to come in [and] win it, in that situation where he came in today,” Anton Lundell said. “A lot of PKs and good chances for [the Sabres], and he was really good today and helped us get the win also.”
Carlsson wasn’t done yet either.
Just 1:16 after Buffalo got their three-goal lead back, he ripped another point shot, which was tipped in by Sam Reinhart this time.
“I think I’m creating some chances offensively,” Carlsson said. “That’s why I’m here, I’m an offensive player, so that’s what I need to do to be successful.”
The Panthers never looked back from there.
With 4:20 to go in the second period, Aaron Ekblad slid home a snap shot to draw the Panthers within a goal.
When the third period started, Ekblad wasn’t done. He potted home a slapshot on the power play 1:07 into the final frame to tie the game at four.
After missing the end of last season with a fractured leg, Ekblad’s eight goals are second in the league among defensemen while his 22 points are tied for first from NHL blueliners.
“It’s big for the confidence for sure, but getting goals and points is not what it’s all about,” Ekblad said.
“The points are nice, playing on the power play is nice, but at the end of the day, it’s about winning hockey games and playing good defense for me. It’s huge for my confidence to have a big injury and come back and be able to compete and play, so I’m just happy to be out there.”
Zemgus Girgensons appeared to put the Buffalo Sabres back on top with 12:29 to go, but Eetu Luostarinen made a great play with his stick to keep the puck from entering a wide-open net.
“It was unbelievable, I thought it was in the net to be honest,” Ekblad said. “But it didn’t obviously know, so the fact we went down and then scored was huge, that could’ve been the ‘TSN Turning Point’ for sure.”
34 seconds later, Anton Lundell scored his first goal since Nov. 6 against Carolina, breaking an 11-game goal-scoring drought and giving the Panthers their first lead of the night.
“For me, the team always goes first, but of course I want to score goals, helping the team offensively like scoring goals and making plays.” Lundell said.
“In the last [few] games, we have had some great chances, but we have had a little bad luck, a lot of posts and it just doesn’t go our way, but today it was good to get the puck in.”
Jonathan Huberdeau sealed the deal, scoring an empty netter with 1:23 to go, making it a 6-4 game.
With five seconds left, Lundell scored his second goal of the game, making it a 7-4 final score.