The Florida Panthers showed resilience when it mattered most Tuesday night, overcoming a stunning late collapse to defeat the Seattle Kraken 5–4 in a shootout on a decisive goal from Vinnie Hinostroza, salvaging what had nearly slipped away in dramatic fashion.
Florida appeared firmly in control after Noah Gregor gave the Panthers a 4–1 lead with 7:39 remaining in regulation. But Seattle mounted a furious comeback, scoring three goals in a rapid 2:21 stretch to force overtime and silence the home crowd.
Matty Beniers started the rally with 5:43 left, beating Sergei Bobrovsky following a poke-check attempt to cut the deficit to 4–2. Then, with 3:36 remaining, Jordan Eberle forced a turnover and drove in alone to make it 4–3. Just 14 seconds later, Bobby McMann completed the comeback, finishing off a rush by slipping the puck through Bobrovsky’s skates to tie the game at four.
Despite the late surge from Seattle, Florida regrouped in the shootout, where Hinostroza delivered the winner to secure the extra point and halt any lingering momentum from the visitors.
Earlier in the night, Florida built its advantage behind balanced scoring. Nolan Foote, Eetu Luostarinen and Carter Verhaeghe each found the net, while Gregor made a strong impact after being called up from the Charlotte Checkers, contributing a goal and an assist. Gregor helped set up Foote’s second-period tally off the rush and later extended the Panthers’ lead to 4–1 when his attempt to feed Foote instead deflected off Ryker Evans and past Joey Daccord.
Evans also scored earlier in the third period for Seattle, which has now lost eight of its last 10 games and hasn’t recorded a win since defeating Florida 6–2 on March 15. Daccord finished with 20 saves for the Kraken, while Bobrovsky stopped 22 shots for the Panthers.
The night also featured several milestone moments. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice was honored during a first-period break for becoming just the second coach in NHL history to reach 2,000 games behind the bench, joining legendary coach Scotty Bowman. Meanwhile, defenseman Aaron Ekblad skated in his 800th career NHL game—all with Florida—moving within four games of tying injured captain Aleksander Barkov for the most games played in franchise history. On the Seattle side, defenseman Adam Larsson reached the 1,000-game milestone in his NHL career.
The Kraken continue their Florida swing with a visit to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, while the Panthers return home to host the Minnesota Wild as they look to build momentum after a thrilling comeback victory of their own in the shootout.
