SUNRISE, Fla. — Erik Gustafsson scored 2:32 into overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 5-4 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
Gustafsson wristed in his third goal of the season to beat Florida goalie James Reimer, snapping Chicago’s two-game overall losing streak and eight-game road skid.
Alex DeBrincat tied it with 2 seconds left in regulation and David Kampf, Patrick Kane and Alexandre Fortin also tallied for the Blackhawks. Gustav Forsling had two assists and Kampf added an assist for a three-point night.
Goalie Cam Ward made his first start since Nov. 12 and stopped 34 shots.
Mike Hoffman, Jared McCann, Aaron Ekblad and Frank Vatrano scored goals for the Panthers. Jonathan Huberdeau recorded a pair of assists.
Reimer made 36 saves for the Panthers, who lost their third straight.
Hoffman, who turned 29 on Saturday, put Florida up 1-0 at 5:28 of the first period when he one-timed a cross-ice pass from Keith Yandle while on the power play. It was his 11th goal and continued the Panthers’ hot stretch with the man advantage.
McCann added on when he took Colton Sceviour’s pass from the half-boards and skated in alone against Ward. McCann deked left and roofed a backhander for his third goal at 13:40.
After a slow first period when they were outshot 16-9, the Blackhawks opened the second fast and tied it inside six minutes.
Kampf cut it to 2-1 just 49 seconds into the period when he skated past Ekblad on the right side and swept in his third goal past Reimer.
Kane tied it with a deflection at 5:34 on a pass from Brandon Saad for his 13th goal, but Ekblad one-timed a pass from Hoffman for his fourth goal at 8:08.
Shortly after a Chicago power play ended when neither team changed a player and Ekblad broke his stick early on the penalty kill, Huberdeau flipped a pass in front of Ward that Vatrano chipped in for his seventh goal at 11:30 for a 4-2 lead.
Chicago recorded the first 11 shots of the third period, and Fortin scored his third goal at 9:52 short-handed after a steal.
DeBrincat’s 10th goal tied it after Chicago pulled the goalie for an extra attacker.
NOTES: Kane’s goal was his first since Nov. 8 against Carolina, a stretch of seven scoreless games. . Gustafsson played in his 100th career NHL game. . Hoffman has scored a point in all four NHL games he has played on his birthday. . Florida recalled G Michael Hutchinson from AHL affiliate Springfield on an emergency basis. No. 1 goalie Roberto Luongo was injured late in the first period of Friday’s 4-1 loss at Carolina and is day-to-day.
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Bill Whitehead, The Associated Press