Panthers 2, Wild 1 (SO)
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Jonathan Huberdeau and Brad Boyes scored in a shootout to lead the Florida Panthers to a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild at the BB&T Center on Saturday night.
The Panthers' Tim Thomas stopped Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu to settle the game.
Florida, which started the night in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with four points, snapped a three-game losing streak.
The Wild, who started the night tied for fourth in the Western Conference with eight points, have lost three games in a row.
Minnesota is 5-3 all-time at Sunrise.
The game evolved into a goalie duel between two-time Vezina Trophy winner Thomas, 39, of the Panthers and Josh Harding, 29, of Minnesota.
Harding, a career backup, is having his best season, playing in place of Niklas Backstrom, who only Thursday returned from injury. Harding made perhaps his best save of the night with 1:14 left in overtime as he made a glove save on a point-blank shot by Tomas Fleischmann.
After trailing early, the Panthers tied the score 1-1 on Aleksander Barkov's tip-in power-play goal with 13:11 left in the game. The rookie's third goal of the season came after a one-timer from the right side by Tomas Fleischmann, who took a pass from Brian Campbell.
Florida outshot the Wild 6-4 in the third period. The Panthers also killed off a 5-on-3 Wild power play for 1:19. It was the second such advantage the Panthers killed in the game.
Minnesota got the game's first score, a power-play goal by defenseman Jonas Brodin with 15:55 left in the second period. Brodin, who beat Thomas five-hole, was set up by Dany Heatley and Mikael Granlund.
The assist by Heatley was significant because he has been in a major slump. He entered Saturday with no goals and one assist in eight games.
Florida, which was outshot 13-8 in the second, went 0 for 2 on the power plays in the period.
Neither team scored in the first period. Both teams went 0 for 2 on the power play. That included a 5-on-3 advantage the Panthers had for 22 seconds after first Nino Niederreiter and then Kyle Brodziak got sent off for high-sticking and hooking penalties, respectively.
The Wild had their own 5-on-3 advantage, this one for 31 seconds, after first Brad Boyes and then Jesse Winchester were whistled for hooking.
When the period was over, the Wild had outshot the Panthers 11-7.
NOTES: Dany Heatley, 32, is in the final year of his contract, and he has a $7.5 million cap hit this season. ... Wild G Darcy Kuemper, 23, was sent to the minors after allowing three goals on seven shots Tuesday in Toronto. ... The Panthers sent G Scott Clemmensen, 33, to the minors now that starter Tim Thomas has returned to good health. ... Panthers LW Sean Bergenheim, 29, who missed last season because of hip and sports hernia injuries, still is not ready to go. Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said Friday he is "worried" about the career of Bergenheim, a former first-round pick who scored 17 goals in 2011-2012. ... The Wild, who completed their four-game trip Saturday against the Panthers, return home to play Nashville on Tuesday. ... Up next for the Panthers is a game Tuesday against defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago. It's the third of a six-game homestand.
