The Florida Panthers backed into first place in the Central Division by earning a point in a frustrating 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night. Florida dropped consecutive games for the first time this season. All three contests between the closely-matched Cats and Hurricanes have gone to overtime or a shootout.
After scoring the decisive shootout goal on Saturday, Martin Necas was the Hurricanes hero again, this time finishing off a nice pass from Sebastian Aho 1:59 into the extra session as the two ran a two-on-two play against Frank Vatrano and Anton Stralman to perfection.