Panthers fall in OT after blowing 4-1 lead

SUNRISE – Brayden Point scored a power-play goal 3:12 into overtime and the Tampa Bay Lightning overcame a 4-1 deficit to beat the Florida Panthers 5-4 on Saturday night.

Point took a pass from Nikita Kucherov across the front of the crease to the left side and flipped it past James Reimer. Tampa Bay improved to 19-7-1, a point ahead of Toronto for the overall NHL lead.

Kucherov had a goal and two assists, and Cedric Paquette, Mathieu Joseph and Alex Killorn also scored. Louis Domingue made 24 saves, and Steven Stamkos recorded an assist to help the Lightning improve to 3-0 against the Panthers this season.

Evgenii Dadonov and Jonathan Huberdeau each had a goal and an assist, and Frank Vatrano and Aleksander Barkov also scored for the Panthers. Reimer stopped 34 shots.

The Panthers have gone to overtime in four of their past five games.

The Lightning tied it 4 on a goal credited to Paquette. With traffic in front of the crease, the puck bounced off the skate of Florida’s Dryden Hunt and into the net with 8:19 left in the third.

The Lightning trailed 4-1 in the second before mounting their comeback.

Joseph cut it to 4-2 when he one-timed a pass from Kucherov at 13 minutes of the second.

Kucherov’a shot from the right circle during a power play made it 4-3 with a minute left in the second.

Huberdeau stretched the Panthers lead to 3-1 on a breakaway after he beat Domingue from in front 2:11 into the second. Huberdeau has eight points over the past four games.

Dadonov’s power-play goal during a 5-on-3 put the Panthers ahead 4-1. Keith Yandle passed from the slot to Dadonov to the right of the crease and poked in the puck at 8:04 of the second. Yandle recorded his 400th NHL assist on the play.

The Panthers scored two goals in 11 seconds to take a 2-0 lead in the first. Vatrano’s shot from above the right circle beat Domingue at 10:23 to make the score 1-0.