ST. PAUL, Minn (AP) – Doink. Doink. Winner.
Noel Acciari scored with 5.6 seconds left in the third period and the Florida Panthers rallied to win their fifth straight game, beating the Minnesota Wild 5-4 on Monday night.
Despite his stick being held by Ryan Suter, Acciari was able to tip in a shot from the point by Mark Pysyk that was first tipped by Aaron Ekblad. A video review upheld the goal.
“That’s what you call a break, very opportunistic break,” Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said.
“Yeah, it was pretty crazy,” added Keith Yandle, who had a goal and three assists for Florida. “Mark Pysyk, the hybrid does it all. Defense, forward — great shot by him. I think it was double tipped. Game-winning goal in a building that has been tough for us to win in.”
It was Florida’s first regulation victory in Minnesota. Since a 2001 scoreless tie during the Wild’s inaugural season, Minnesota was 10-0-1 at home against Florida, including seven wins in a row.
Aleksander Barkov added a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Evgenii Dadonov and Vincent Trocheck also scored. Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves in his second consecutive start after missing two games with an upper-body injury.
Florida has won six of seven and 12 of 16 to move into third place in the Atlantic Division.
“Huge win, especially with the break coming up there, in the tight race we’re running,” Trocheck said.
