The Florida Panthers opened the 2021-22 season with wild and woolly (no, not Jason) 5-4 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins thanks to two goals from Carter Verhaeghe, including the decisive blow 1:37 into the extra session, and two third period goals from defenseman Aaron Ekblad, which erased a two-goal deficit.
After Verhaeghe sniped a screened Casey DeSmith, with the lone assist going to Aleksander Barkov, for the first period’s only goal, Anthony Duclair put the Cats up by two 3:57 into the second when his aggressiveness was rewarded after Mark Friedman put the puck into his own net after DeSmith poked-checked the incoming Duke.