Panthers vs. Blackhawks: Lars Eller's Late Goal Ends Florida's Skid and Extends Chicago's Slide

Lars Eller noticed something the Chicago Blackhawks did not: they were in the middle of a line change. So the Florida forward stayed on the ice, carried the puck into the zone, and with 2:23 left in a tie game, picked the far side on Spencer Knight from the right circle.

That was Eller's first goal of the season, in his 12th game, and it gave the Florida Panthers a 3-2 win over the Blackhawks at the United Center on Sunday afternoon. Florida snapped a two-game skid. Chicago lost its third straight.

"Actually it opened up a little more than I thought, and I took the chance. I probably wasn't going to get a better look than that, so I just fired and it went in," Eller said, per NHL.com.

A Lively First Period

Chicago got the early jump when Ryan Greene scored 2:34 in, his first goal of the season, with assists to Andrew Mangiapane and Kevin Korchinski. Korchinski, the Blackhawks' top pick in the 2022 draft at No. 7 overall, was playing just his second game of the season.

Florida pushed back hard from there, outshooting Chicago 15-6 over the opening 20 minutes. Sandis Vilmanis tied it at 6:49 off a Sam Reinhart shot for his first goal of the season, with Carter Verhaeghe picking up the secondary assist in his 500th NHL game.

Then the Panthers' power play struck almost instantly. Tyler Bertuzzi went off for tripping, and five seconds into the advantage, Seth Jones fired a shot that deflected in off Matthew Tkachuk for a 2-1 lead at 14:21. It ended a six-game goal drought for Tkachuk, and Brady Tkachuk earned the second assist. NHL.com noted it was the eighth time the pair has combined on a goal, the most of any two Panthers teammates this season.

Florida coach Paul Maurice liked what he saw in that opening frame. "The first period was the first period we started to look fast offensively again," he said.

Chicago's Best Line Answers

The Blackhawks found an equalizer in the middle period thanks to their marquee trio. At 11:15, Patrick Kane found Roman Kantserov from the goal line, and Kantserov's wrister from the right circle snuck under Akira Schmid with traffic in front. Connor Bedard drew the secondary assist.

Kantserov's fourth goal of the season capped a strong shift from that line, and the assist was the 898th of Kane's career. According to NHL.com, he can become the 21st player in NHL history, and the first American skater, to reach 900 assists.

From there it became a grind, and Chicago had every chance to take control.

The Power Play That Wasn't

Here is the turning point, and it is not a goal. Chicago went 0-for-7 on the power play, including two brief 5-on-3 chances, and the AP noted that dropped the Blackhawks' league-worst conversion rate to 8.33%. Seven power plays in a game decided by one goal is a gift. Chicago left every one of them unopened.

It is like a Wi-Fi signal showing full bars that still will not load a single page. The chances looked good on paper and produced nothing on the scoreboard.

Coach Jeff Blashill tried to keep perspective. "I think the power play is kind of mirroring our 5-on-5 game, like we can't score," he said. "I can't sit here and say to you we don't get any chances. I think we do."

Florida's penalty kill earned plenty of credit, and so did Schmid. He made 19 saves on 21 shots and said he focused on staying sharp all the way to the horn. "Just mentally I tried to really stay dialed in for a full 60 minutes," Schmid said.

Eventually, the Panthers made Chicago pay for the missed chances. Eller's goal came on a play that started with a poorly timed change, and in a game this tight, one lapse was enough.

Eller, Schmid and a Solid Florida Effort

Eller finished with the winner in 16:20 of ice time. It was the kind of goal that never makes a highlight-reel top 10 but wins games in October. "It's a good feeling to get on the board, and certainly when it helps your team get two points," he said.

Florida outshot Chicago 34-21 and outhit the Blackhawks 33-18. Jones logged 24:55, and Aaron Ekblad had the lone assist on Eller's goal.

Knight kept Chicago in it with 31 saves on 34 shots, according to the box score. Bedard played 23:09 and picked up an assist.

Stats That Matter

• 0 for 7: Chicago's power play, including two short 5-on-3 looks.
• 5 seconds: how long it took Florida to score on its first-period power play.
• 34-21: Florida's shot advantage.
• 3: goals scored by Chicago across its three-game losing streak, per NHL.com.
• 500: NHL games for Carter Verhaeghe, who marked the occasion with an assist.

Where Things Stand

Florida improved to 6-4-2 with 14 points. The Panthers had lost the first two games of this four-game road trip by a combined 9-1, falling 5-1 in Ottawa and 4-0 in Pittsburgh, so this one stopped the bleeding. They finish the trip in Winnipeg on Tuesday. Maurice called the performance "a step in the right direction for us," while acknowledging his team is "still not quite there."

Chicago dropped to 3-8-0 with six points and has lost three in a row. All three of its wins this season have come at the United Center, where it is now 3-4-0, which makes a home loss like this one sting a little more. The Blackhawks close out a seven-game homestand against Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The Closing Take

Bedard, the Chicago captain, did not pretend things were fine. "There's going to be frustration; we're 3-8," he said. "If there's no frustration, that's even worse than too much frustration."

That is a mature answer from a captain. Now the Blackhawks need to turn that frustration into goals, because right now Chicago keeps knocking on the door while teams like Florida keep walking right in.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes from NHL.com's game recap; additional details as reported by the Associated Press and NHL.com.