Lars Eller's late winner snaps the skid in a 3-2 win at Chicago

Panthers 3, Blackhawks 2. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't the standard, but after getting outscored 9-1 in Ottawa and Pittsburgh, the cats needed a win far more than they needed a clean one.

How it went

Chicago scored first when Ryan Greene beat Akira Schmid with a wrister at 2:34, and for a minute it looked like the same miserable road trip.

Then Florida played the first period it wanted. Sandis Vilmanis, promoted next to Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe, tied it at 6:49 with a backhand. At 14:21, Matthew Tkachuk tipped home a Seth Jones shot on the power play, five seconds after Tyler Bertuzzi went off for tripping. Florida outshot Chicago 15-6 in the period.

The second period turned into a procession to the penalty box. Roman Kantserov tied it at 11:15, with Patrick Kane and Connor Bedard on the play, and it stayed 2-2 until Lars Eller beat Spencer Knight with 2:23 remaining. Aaron Ekblad had the only assist.

Three things from Chicago

1. The penalty kill saved them, and that's not a compliment to the discipline. Florida took seven penalties, including a Verhaeghe double minor, and handed Chicago two separate stretches of 5-on-3. The Blackhawks finished 0-for-7, and Schmid stopped all seven power-play shots he faced.

That's a terrific kill attached to a terrible habit. We already laid out why this team is the league's most shorthanded, and tonight didn't change the math. It just survived it.

2. The line shuffle paid off immediately. Maurice put Vilmanis, scratched in Pittsburgh, on the second line and moved Eller down, and both scored their first goals of the season. Vilmanis generated four shots in 13:04.

Eller scored the winner on a night his ice time dropped to 16:20 from 19:30 in Pittsburgh, per NHL data. Less ice, bigger goal. I'll take that exchange every night.

3. The Tkachuk connection is the one thing that hasn't slumped. Brady set up his brother's power-play goal, the eighth time this season the two have combined on a goal, the most of any Panthers pair. It was also Matthew's first goal in seven games.

Even so, Brady played only 14:48, down 2:36 from Pittsburgh by our count, which says that line still hasn't earned the big even-strength minutes.

Ferda play of the night

Aaron Ekblad. While the penalty kill worked overtime, he blocked a team-high three shots, then drew Alex Vlasic's interference penalty in the third and set up the winner. He sat for a slash in the second, but he paid that back with interest. That's exactly the night you want from a top-pair defenseman.

Pabs' read

One win doesn't answer what Maurice called arrogance and softness. Florida closed as a -185 favorite against a 3-8 team and won by a single goal, so it didn't cover the -1.5 puck line, and five goals stayed under the 6.5 total. (21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.)

Still, the room needed this one. Verhaeghe got a win in his 500th NHL game, Jones beat his former team, and the cats are 6-4-2. Dale. Now play an entire sixty minutes without the penalty box taking half the shifts.

Next game

Tuesday at Winnipeg, 8 PM ET at Canada Life Centre, on Scripps.