SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers got a near-career performance from Daniil Tarasov and tied up the Minnesota Wild on an Aaron Ekblad one-timer with 73 seconds remaining.
Only the Wild had one more big shot left.
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Joel Eriksson Ek ended up scoring the deciding goal with 4.4 seconds left and the Wild got a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Panthers.
Tarasov ended with 46 saves — his most of the season and one off a career-best set against the Panthers in 2022 and Nashville two years later.
Florida trailed 2-0 after two periods, but Matthew Tkachuk brought the Panthers within a goal 42 seconds into the third.
Down 1, Paul Maurice pulled Tarasov with 3:03 remaining and the Panthers put on a full court press.
Ekblad ended up tying the score with a one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Seth Jones.
Eriksson Ek won it when he deflected a shot from Brock Faber, then grabbed his own rebound and got it past Tarasov.
NOTES: WILD at PANTHERS- The Panthers lost another forward early in Thursday’s game with Evan Rodrigues leaving the game with an upper-body injury after his first shift. He was officially ruled out during the first intermission with what Maurice said was a broken finger. That may spell the end of another season for the Panthers.
- Jeff Petry, traded to Minnesota at the deadline, was given a ‘Thank You’ shout out on the scoreboard. Playing in his second game with the Wild, Petry got his ninth assist of the season and first with Minnesota. Petry’s last point of the season came with the Panthers on Dec. 29 against the Capitals.
- The Panthers honored the late Jessi Pierce by leaving a vase of flowers at her seat in the press box as well as holding a moment of silence before the game. Pierce, who covered the Wild for NHL.com among other outlets, died in a house fire with her three young children on Saturday in White Bear Lake, Mn.
- Wild 1, Panthers 0 (2:47 2nd): Minnesota opens the scoring on its 21st shot of the night, Marcus Foligno taking a backhanded feed from Yakov Trenin and beating Daniil Tarasov five hole.
- Wild 2, Panthers 0 (18:25 2nd): Eight shots later and it was Ryan Hartman getting the puck off the end boards in front of the net. Tarasov was down on the ice and was late to slide over — but it wouldn’t have matter since Hartman put it in the top corner anyway.
- Wild 2, Panthers 1 (0:42 3rd): Matthew Tkachuk deflects a point shot from Gus Forsling past Jesper Wallstedt from in front of the net. Minnesota held a 30-15 shot advantage at the time.
- Panthers 2, Wild 2 (18:47 3rd 6/5): Aaron Ekblad one-times a Seth Jones pass past Wallstedt to tie things up.
- Wild 3, Panthers 2 (19:55 3rd): Joel Eriksson Ek gets his own rebound off a deflection in front and wins the thing.
- 1. Joel Eriksson Ek, Wild
- 2. Daniil Tarasov, Panthers
- 3. Marcus Foligno, Wild
- When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
- Where: UBS Arena; Elmont, N.Y.
- Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
- Streaming:Panthers+, ESPN+
- Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Last Season: Panthers Won 2-1
- This Season (Tied 1-1) — At Islanders: New York 5, Florida 4 (March 1); Saturday. At Florida: Panthers 4, Islanders 1 (Dec. 2)
- All-time Regular Season Series: Panthers lead 60-36-11, 8 ties
- Next Up for the Panthers: Sunday at New York Rangers, 1 p.m.
This article: Wild Thing: Panthers Tie Game Late, Minnesota Wins It Later originally appeared on Florida Hockey Now.