Eleven home wins to open season ties record

The 2021-22 Florida Panthers will officially go down in history.

Aaron Ekblad scored with 2:21 remaining in overtime Wednesday to lift the Panthers to a 2-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers and give them an NHL record-tying 11th consecutive home win to open the season.

Ekblad began the decisive possession near the net, then slid into the slot. The star defenseman fielded a pass, tapped one down to Jonathan Huberdeau on the doorstep, then got it right back from the star left wing to beat

Flyers goaltender Martin Jones for the winning goal at FLA Live Arena.

The 1963-64 Chicago Blackhawks are the only other team in NHL history to open the season 11-0 at home. The Panthers (142-3) will have a chance to break the record Saturday when they host the Seattle Kraken in its first meeting with the expansion team.

For 10 games, the wins at home had mostly come easy. Florida averaged 4.8 goals and 35.3 shots per game throughout those first 10 games of the Sunrise winning streak, yet the Panthers were scoreless into the third Wednesday.

The had rung the post four times, piled up literally dozens of scoring chances and close to a dozen high-danger opportunities, and still they trailed 1-0 because of one gaffe in the first period and a spectacular performance from Jones. Philadelphia winger Joel Farabee scored on a breakaway in the first

eight minutes and it was enough to keep the Flyers (8-6-4) in front until the third.

Florida was bound for a breakthrough, though, and it finally got one with a little more than 16 minutes left. The Panthers went on the power play for the first time with 16:25 remaining and needed only 24 seconds to capitalize. Anthony Duclair whipped a pinpoint pass from the right wing across the front of the net to fellow forward Sam Ben

nett, who tapped in the game-tying goal with

16:01 left.

Florida hadn’t scored a power-play goal since

Nov. 6, going 0 of 16 in its past seven games. With an NHL record on the line, the Panthers finally ended their drought.

It was enough to get them into overtime. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 of 33 shots, including a breakaway in the extra period, to shut out Philadelphia for the final two periods and

Ekblad came through in the end to keep Florida perfect at home.

PHOTOS BY DAVID SANTIAGO dsantiago@miamiherald.com Ryan Lomberg carries the team banner and victory rats hit the ice as the Panthers celebrate their 11th consecutive win at home after Aaron Ekblad (5) scored the winning goal in overtime.

Anthony Duclair has his shot turned away by Flyers goalie Martin Jones. Duclair later set up the Panthers’ first goal.