Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads Panthers to 2-1 victory over Ducks

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored his second goal in the last four games, Anton Lundell had two assists and the Florida Panthers continued their hot November with a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.

Eetu Luostarinen also scored for the Panthers, who have won seven of their nine games in November.

Frank Vatrano put in his team-leading 12th goal for Anaheim. John Gibson, who was in net for his 441st game with the Ducks and tied Guy Herbet for second-most in franchise history, made 31 saves.

Jakob Silfverberg thought he put in the tying goal midway through the third period, but there was no conclusive video evidence to show that his shot crossed the Florida goal line.

Anthony Stolarz stopped 33 shots for the Panthers.

Ekman-Larsson gave the Panthers a two-goal advantage at 18:06 of the first period with a snap shot that went in off the far post. It was his seventh goal and 25th point in 59 games against the Ducks.

Lundell, who has 85 career points, passed Vincent Trocheck and Ed Jovanovski for the eighth-most points by a Panthers player before age 23.

Luostarinen scored his first goal of the season at 14:50 of the first when he got Lundell’s pass from behind the net, skated to the near post and put a wrist shot past Gibson.

Vatrano got the Ducks within a goal at 7:39 of the third period when he put in a rebound after Stolarz.

Panthers defensemen Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad made their season debuts after missing the first 16 games due to shoulder injuries. Montour led Panthers defensemen in goals last season with 16 and Ekblad was second with 14.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Open a three-game homestand against Edmonton on Monday.

Ducks: Host St. Louis on Sunday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl