The Florida Panthers kicked off a four-game western swing on Tuesday night in Anaheim.
Much like their previous road trip, this one did not start well for Florida, as they fell behind early and ended up losing big, 7-3 to the Ducks.
It was the Ducks who got on the board first, and it was a rare breakaway against Florida that got the job done.
Leo Carlsson fed a streaking Cutter Gauthier who came in all alone on Sergei Bobrovsky and beat him with a quick wrist shot to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead just 3:09 into the game.
Florida tied things up midway through the period thanks to their veteran superstar Brad Marchand.
After serving a penalty for playing the puck with a broken stick, Marchand popped out of the box and almost immediately was found by Jeff Petry for his own breakaway opportunity.
Marchand corralled the puck, skated into the Ducks’ zone and fired the puck over the glove of Lukas Dostal to even the score midway through the period.
Gauthier scored again late in the frame, this time with Anaheim on the power play, to send the home team into the intermission with the lead.
Another breakaway goal, this time off the stick of Evan Rodrigues, knotted the game at two 5:21 into the second period.
Rodrigues went bar-down over Dostal’s glove after taking a great pass from Mackie Samoskevich to go in alone on the Ducks’ tendy.
The Cats took their first lead of the game about five minutes later, with Florida on the power play after Brad Marchand drew a holding penalty on Alex Killorn.
After Sam Bennett wrapped the puck around the boards behind the Ducks’ net, Rodrigues carried the puck out of the corner and toward the slot, threading a needle with a great feed to Eetu Luostarinen who beat a down and out Dostal to give Florida a 3-2 lead.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, it was a lead that was short lived.
With Anton Lundell in the penalty box for a retaliatory slash after taking an Olen Zellweger elbow to the face, Gauthier one-timed his way to his first career hat trick.
The Ducks scored again less than two minutes later when Nikita Nesterenko popped home a rebound off a Ryan Poehling shot that came off a rebound of a Killorn shot, sending Florida into the third period trailing 4-3.
Rodrigues left the game for a stretch after taking a Leo Carlsson shoulder to the head that resulted in a five-minute major and game misconduct, but Florida was unable to capitalize on the ensuing power play.
Instead, it was Jacob Trouba slamming home a Gauthier rebound to give Anaheim a 5-3 lead with 8:17 to go and then Chris Kreider deflecting a Nesterenko shot to make it 6-3 less than two minutes later that acted as the final nails in the coffin, though a seventh goal less than 90 seconds after that off the stick of Jensen Harkins certainly didn’t help improve the vibes.
On to Los Angeles.
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Photo caption: Oct 28, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) and Anaheim Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger (51) battle for position in front of goaltender Lukas Dostal (1) during overtime at Amerant Bank Arena. (Jim Rassol-Imagn Images)
