National Hockey League
Florida 4, Los Angeles 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, January 16, 2020
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida
Referees: Tom Chmielewski, Ian Walsh
Linesmen: Jonny Murray, Pierre Racicot
Attendance: 12575

Emergency call-up Sam Montembeault came off the bench in the first period and recorded 23 saves, backstopping the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night in Sunrise, Fla.

With top goalie Sergei Bobrovsky out for his second straight game due to an upper-body injury, backup Chris Driedger got the nod and stopped all four shots he faced before leaving with an injury in the first period.

Driedger overextended himself on a kick save and left at 10:05. He was replaced by Montembeault, who was recalled twice this week from AHL Springfield.

A third-round selection in the 2015 draft, Montembeault held the Kings off the board until Alex Iafallo's deflection at 11:42 of the third period cut the Panthers' lead to 4-1. The visitors wound up scoring three times in 5:38.

Evgenii Dadonov reached the 20-goal plateau, and Frank Vatrano, Mike Matheson and Brian Boyle also tallied for the Panthers, who won for the seventh time in 10 games and ended their January home schedule with a 3-1-0 mark.

Anze Kopitar tallied and assisted on two goals, Adrian Kempe and Iafallo also scored, and Jack Campbell made 22 saves for the Kings, who are 1-5-1 in their last seven.

Florida took advantage of Los Angeles' 27th-ranked penalty kill on the game's first power play. The Panthers cycled the puck with full possession for 39 seconds before Dadonov finished a pass into the slot by Jonathan Huberdeau at 6:04 for a 1-0 lead.

The tally pushed Dadonov to the 20-goal mark for the third time in his career. Aleksander Barkov, who got the secondary assist, broke a tie with Stephen Weiss for third on Florida's all-time points list (395), trailing just Huberdeau (421) and Olli Jokinen (419).

Dominic Toninato chased down a long pass early in the second period and zipped the puck back to a trailing Vatrano, who one-timed his 11th goal from the top of the right circle into the bottom right corner at 3:06.

Matheson blasted home his sixth goal from between the top of the right circle and the blue line two seconds before Florida's third power play expired at 4:55 of the third period.

Boyle grabbed a loose puck and buried his sixth at 7:06 for a 4-0 lead.

Kempe's power-play goal made it 4-2 at 15:08 of the third period. Kopitar added another man-advantage marker with 2:40 left to cut it to 4-3, but Florida's defense shut down the Kings over the last two minutes.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Los Angeles   Florida
Anze Kopitar 3 Points Brian Boyle 1
Anze Kopitar 1 Goals Brian Boyle 1
Anze Kopitar 2 Assists Aleksander Barkov 1
Anze Kopitar 1 Power Play Goals Evgenii Dadonov 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Jack Campbell .846 Save Percentage Chris Driedger 1.000
Jack Campbell 22 Saves Sam Montembeault 23
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Los Angeles 30 3 2-4 1-3 6 22
Florida 26 4 2-3 2-4 8 22
Upcoming Games
  • Florida will play their next game on the road against Detroit. The Panthers have a W/L % of .440 after a win and .667 after a loss.
  • Los Angeles will play their next game on the road against Philadelphia. The Kings have a W/L % of .263 after a win and .433 after a loss.