Bennett scores in overtime, Panthers edge Blackhawks 4-3

<p>CHICAGO &mdash; Sam Bennett scored at 4:08 of overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.</p>
<p>Bennett beat Kevin Lankinen with a rising shot over the glove from the slot for his ninth goal after the Blackhawks had dominated in overtime and tested 20-year-old Florida goaltender Spencer Knight, who played in just this third NHL game.</p>
<p>The win kept Florida two points behind first-place Carolina and one ahead of third-place Tampa Bay in the tight Central Division.</p>
<p>Alex DeBrincat scored on a one-timer with 18 seconds left in regulation for his 24th goal, tying the game at 3-all and forcing overtime. He beat Knight from the left circle after taking Patrick Kane’s cross-ice feed and with Lankinen on the bench for an extra attacker.</p>
<p>Alex Wennberg and Brandon Mountour each had a goal and assist for the Panthers, who improved to 7-2-1 in their last 10. Anthony Duclair also scored.</p>
<p>Knight made 24 saves in his second start and third appearance with Florida since signing a three-year, entry-level contract on March 31. Knight, who won in relief of Sergei Bobrovsky on Tuesday, improved to 3-0-0 in the NHL after starring for two seasons at Boston College.</p>
<p>Adam Gaudette and Vinnie Hinostroza also scored for Chicago, which is six points behind fourth-place Nashville in the race for the division’s final playoff spot. The Blackhawks have six games remaining.</p>
<p>Lankinen stopped 35 shots.</p>
<p>Gaudette scored his first goal with the Blackhawks since being acquired from Vancouver at the trade deadline, opening the scoring on a backhander from a scrum in front at 13:47 of the first period. </p>
<p>Dominik Kubalik’s initial shot bounced off several players in front, then Gaudette shoveled in the loose puck before the Panthers defense or Knight could react.</p>
<p>Wennberg’s power-play deflection at 7:47 of the second tied it 1. Alone in front, he ticked in MacKenzie Weegar’s shot from the top of the slot.</p>
<p>Hinostroza put Chicago back ahead 2-1 at 10:09 with a nifty, on-the-fly tip-in of Brandon Hagel’s pinpoint feed to the right edge of the crease.</p>
<p>Duclair whipped in a rebound of Montour’s soft shot three minutes later, tying it at 2-all.</p>
<p>Knight slid across the crease to make a right pad save and rob Alex DeBrincat on a point-blank tip-in attempt with 4:40 left in the second.</p>
<p>DeBrincat deflected in a puck during a short-handed rush with about two minutes left in the period, but the goal was disallowed because DeBrincat’s stick was above his shoulder.</p>
<p>Montour scored at 9:09 of the third to put Florida ahead 3-2 Montour trailed in on the play, took a feed from Wennberg and beat Lankinen with a shot from the slot as Aleksi Heponiemi distracted at the edge of the crease. </p>
<p>FANS TO RETURN TO UNITED CENTER</p>
<p>The Blackhawks and Chicago Bulls announced Thursday they have permission from the city and state to host fans at 25% capacity starting with Bulls vs. Boston Celtics on May 7 and Blackhawks vs. Dallas Stars on May 9. The Blackhawks will allow a few hundred player family members and team-invited guests to attend their game against the Panthers this Saturday.</p>
<p>Tickets will be sold in groups of two to four adjacent seats, with no group closer than 6 feet apart. Fans over age 2 will be required to wear masks except when eating and drinking.</p>
<p>ROSTER/INJURY UPDATES</p>
<p>Florida: Coach Joel Quenneville said RW Patric Hornqvist, who sat out his third game with an upper-body injury, is progressing. … LW Mason Marchment (upper-body) missed his fifth game and C Carter Verhaeghe (upper-body) missed his 10th.</p>
<p>Chicago: D Adam Boqvist is out for the season with a broken right wrist, suffered on Tuesday when he was hit by Tampa Bay D Erik Cernak. Rookie D Nicolas Beaudin took the roster spot on Thursday. … D Calvin de Haan (hip) missed his third game. … Gaudette, acquired at the trade deadline from Vancouver, played his second game with the Blackhawks, while C Philipp Kurashev was a healthy scratch.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>The teams meet again in Chicago on Saturday night.</p>
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