LOS ANGELES — Jonathan Huberdeau scored with 1:56 remaining and the Florida Panthers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 on Saturday for their fourth straight win.
Sam Montembeault made 24 saves to win his fourth consecutive start for the Panthers, who are seven points behind Carolina and Columbus for an Eastern Conference wild-card with 11 games remaining in the regular season. The Hurricanes and Blue Jackets both played Saturday night.
Evgenii Dadonov scored twice, Mike Hoffman had a power-play goal, and Aleksander Barkov had three assists to extend his streak to five games for the Panthers.
Anze Kopiar and Dustin Brown each had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who have lost 15 of 17. Brendan Leipsic also scored and Jonathan Quick made 31 saves.
Huberdeau had his shot at the near post sneak in under Quick’s skate at 18:04 after Dadonov scored from the slot on a drop pass from Huberdeau at 13:47 of the third period to tie it at 3-3.
Kopitar put the Kings ahead 3-2 at 9:44 after Leipsic tied the game 2-2 1:05 into the third period.
Florida went back in front 2-1 at 4:04 of the second period when Dadonov put in a rebound of Barkov’s shot from close range.
The Panthers went up 1-0 at 4:10 of the first period on Hoffman’s 33rd goal. Hoffman has three goals and two assists during a four-game point streak.
Brown tied the game at 1 at 7:35 on a breakaway off Drew Doughty’s stretch pass. It was Brown’s 93rd career power-play goal, passing Rob Blake for fifth-most in team history.
NOTES: Montembeault is 4-0-1 in five starts as a rookie. . Dadonov played in his 200th career game. . The Kings scratched F Ilya Kovalchuk and Jonny Brodzinski and played with 11 forwards and seven defencemen. They also scratched D Paul LaDue.
UP NEXT
Panthers: Continue their four-game road trip at Anaheim on Sunday night.
Kings: Host Winnipeg on Monday night.
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Dan Greenspan, The Associated Press
