RECAP: Panthers 5, Kings 2

LOS ANGELES – Hollywood nights.

Behind a 24-save performance from Sergei Bobrovsky and two-goal night from Brad Marchand, the Florida Panthers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena.

Picking up two points, the Panthers improved to 7-6-1.

“We've been a good road team, and we know we're a better road team than we have played so far, so it was a big win for the team today,” Anton Lundell said after the win.

Breaking the ice early in the first period, Sam Bennett corralled a rebound in front of the net and beat Anton Forsberg at 2:06.

Nearly tying the game right after, Adrian Kempe got on a breakaway, but was brick-walled by Bobrovsky.

Per NaturalStatTrick.com, Bobrovsky made six high-danger saves during the first frame.

“He was great,” Bennett said of Bobrovsky’s performance. “We can always rely on him and he came up when he needed to, made some really big saves, and kept us in the game.”

After preventing any damage on the Kings first power play opportunity, Anze Kopitar deflected in a goal on their second man-advantage chance at 9:23, to make it 1-1. Making it 2-1 for the Kings, Corey Perry scored on a breakaway less than two minutes later at 11:00.

Extending his goal streak to three, Brad Marchand intercepted the puck behind the net and scored on a wraparound at 17:30, to even the score at 2-2 before the end of the period.

With the goal, Marchand tied Joe Nieuwendyk (2005-06) and Dino Ciccarelli (1998-99) for the longest stretch by a Panthers player at age 37 or older, per NHL Stats.

“He’s been outstanding for us all season,” Bobrovsky said of Marchand. “He’s the one who drives us. He’s a leader in the locker room. He’s a leader on the ice. It’s great to have him.”

Trading chances in the second period, Sam Reinhart broke through with the only goal of the period at 11:45, giving the Panthers a 3-2 lead.

A pretty good present for his 30th birthday, the goal was Reinhart’s seventh of the season.

“One of the most impactful players in our room,” Head coach Paul Maurice said of Reinhart. “As a leader, he's got that great balance. He can talk to the coaches about X's and O's because he sees things on the ice so very well, but he also will do hard things that kind of keep them connected to the players.”

Coming up big while shorthanded in the third period, Anton Lundell made it 4-2 with a breakaway goal to give the Panthers some insurance at 8:41.

Sealing the deal and burying his second of the night, Marchand made it 5-2 at 12:36.

“I thought the guys did a great job, worked hard together in all zones,” said Bobrovsky. “It’s a big two points for us.”

THEY SAID IT

“We’ve always, from the day we got together as a line, we read off each other really well and supported each other.” – Brad Marchand

“Important for us to reset, refocus and get back to our simple game, our style.” – Sergei Bobrovsky

“I think we got back to a little simpler hockey. We do what we do best, and that's forecheck.” – Sam Bennett

CATS STATS

- Per NHL Stats, Sam Reinhart joined Olli Jokinen as the second Panthers player to score the game-winning goal on their birthday

- Anton Lundell won 55.6% of his faceoffs

- Evan Rodrigues had a team-high five shots

- The Panthers led 6-1 in scoring chances in the second period

- The line Brad Marchand, Anton Lundell, and Eetu Luostarinen had a 69.23 offensive advantage while five-on-five, per NaturalStatTrick.com

WHAT’S NEXT?

The final stop of the California tour.

On Saturday, the Panthers will take on the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at 10 p.m. ET.

For Cats on Tap, click HERE.