SUNRISE, Fla. – Sam Bennett scored 10 seconds into the third period, Brad Marchand had two assists and Florida Panthers win Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Wednesday night to win the two-game season series.
Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe also scored for Florida, which has won six of its last seven games. Daniil Tarasov made 27 saves for the Panthers, including a breakaway goal against Kings' Trevor Moore with just under five minutes left to maintain a one-goal lead.
Joel Armia and Kevin Fiala scored for Los Angeles, which fell to 0-2-2 in its last four games. The four-game winless streak matches the season's slump for the Kings, who also went 0-2-2 from Oct. 11-18.
Anton Forsberg stopped 25 shots for the Kings. Armia scored the lone goal of the first period, and Fiala made it 3-2 when Florida deflected a goal and passed Tarasov with 15:12 left.
Los Angeles had a chance in the final minutes to tie the game after Florida's Anton Lundell was called for high sticking with 3:05 left. The Kings only managed one shot on the ensuing power play – about half of which were on a two-man advantage after Forsberg was replaced with an extra forward – and the Panthers held on from that point.
Bennett's goal, which gave Florida a 3-1 lead, was the third-fastest start of any period this season.
Kirill Marchenko scored for Columbus seven seconds into the second period against Minnesota on October 11; Jackson Lacombe scored for Anaheim nine seconds into the second period against Vancouver on November 26; and Connor McDavid scored for Edmonton 10 seconds into the third period against Buffalo on December 9.
Kings: Visit Tampa Bay on Thursday night.
Panthers: Host Carolina on Friday night.
