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The Florida Panthers are moving their way back up the Rankings. (Rob Gray-Imagn Images)

Panthers Win 4-3 in a Shootout Over Hurricanes

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Zach Martin | Last updated Dec 19, 2025 10:34 PM ET

The Carolina Hurricanes took their five-game winning streak into the Sunshine State against the Florida Panthers on Friday night (Dec. 19) for the first half of a back-to-back. The Panthers also brought in a three-game winning streak heading into the game. They were looking to slide into the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, while the Hurricanes were looking to extend their lead as the conference’s number one seed. After the final horn, the Panthers won 4-3 in a shootout over the Hurricanes.

Game Recap

The Hurricanes got the scoring started halfway through the first period as the captain Jordan Staal scored on the backhand. His 10th of the season got past Sergei Bobrovsky, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. Eric Robinson and Shayne Gostisbehere were awarded the assists, their third and 22nd, respectively. The Panthers had many chances through the first 20 minutes, putting up 12 shots in the first period. However, Brandon Bussi was able to stop them all.

The second period did not see any goals; however, it seemed that Seth Jarvis scored his 20th of the season. Although it was overturned after a Panthers challenge because of a “kicking motion”. Despite the goal being taken away, Bussi was stellar once again, stopping all 11 Panthers shots in the middle frame. After two periods, the Hurricanes held onto their one-goal lead, while being outshot 23-21.

The third period saw an explosion of goals, as the Hurricanes scored two in the first eight minutes of the final frame. Sebastian Aho scored his 12th of the season, 1:27 into the period, after Andrei Svechnikov sprung him for a breakaway. Jarvis got the sequence going and was rewarded with an assist after his goal was taken away in the second period. Six minutes later, Aho scored his second of the game, this time on the power play, to make it a 3-0 Hurricanes lead. That was his fourth goal in two games, along with his second power-play goal in back-to-back games.

Brad Marchand eventually got the Panthers on the board after some second and third chance opportunities. The Bussi shutout was no longer in effect as the game went back to a two-goal lead for the Hurricanes. Sam Bennett drew the game back to within one as he scored with the extra attacker. The game went up a few levels after some hard hits were swapped from both sides. It was clear that these teams do not like each other, especially after meeting in the Eastern Conference Final twice in the last three seasons. After a Svechnikov turnover, Sam Reinhart tied the game 3-3 with under a minute left to force overtime.

After overtime, the Panthers secured the second point after scoring two goals in the shootout; Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues scored the goals. Jackson Blake kept the Hurricanes in the shootout, but it wasn’t enough. The Panthers are on a four-game winning streak after defeating the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes saw their five-game winning streak snapped, but are on a six-game point streak. Unfortunately, Bussi does not get his 10th straight win to set the record, as his nine-game streak was also snapped.