Nick Cousins scored the go-ahead goal into an empty net with 5:52 left in the third period as the Florida Panthers defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-2 on Saturday night in Sunrise, Fla.

The net was open because Kraken goalie Joey Daccord went to retrieve a puck in the corner to his right. However, the puck took an odd bounce and went right to Cousins, who scored his first goal of the season.

Gustav Forsling and Matthew Tkachuk also scored for Florida. It was the first goal of the season for each. Last season, they combined for 53 goals, including 40 by Tkachuk.

In seven career games against Seattle, Tkachuk has seven goals.

Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves.

Seattle's Jared McCann scored a goal against his former team, teammate Eeli Tolvanen also tallied, and the Kraken got 35 saves from Daccord (2-1-2), who lost in regulation for the first time this season.

Center Matthew Beniers, the NHL's reigning Rookie of the Year, did not get a point. After scoring 24 goals last season, he has none this season.

Florida's Sam Reinhart had his five-game goal streak broken. It is the third-longest such streak in franchise history. The record is seven by Pavel Bure in 2001.

Reinhart nearly scored in the second period, but his would-be goal was wiped out on video review by an offsides call.

The Panthers got a boost from the return of center Aleksander Barkov and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, who had been battling the flu. Kulikov came through with two assists.

McCann opened the scoring with 7:58 gone in the first period. Yanni Gourde's touch pass in the neutral zone near the right boards sent McCann off to the races. McCann then faked twice before finally beating Bobrovsky with a backhander to the empty right side of the net.

Seattle made it 2-0 on their first shot of the second period. With 12:26 left, Tolvanen deflected in a shot.

Florida got on the board on a power-play goal by Forsling with 11:07 left in the second. Anton Lundell dished to Forsling for his drive from the point.

Just 11 seconds later, a deflection by Tkachuk tied the score 2-2. Lundell won a faceoff, and Kulikov's shot from the point was tipped in by Tkachuk.

The score remained tied 2-2 after the second period, although it took some bad luck for the Panthers as shots by Ryan Lomberg and Cousins hit posts.

--Field Level Media