The Florida Panthers scored three times in the back half of the third period to erase a three-goal deficit and then outdid the Carolina Hurricanes in the shootout to post a stunning 4-3 victory over the top team in the Eastern Conference.
Carolina opened the scoring 11:53 into the first when veteran Jordan Staal banged in a rebound following a point shot from Shayne Gostisbehere that came off the back glass. Eric Robinson drew the primary assist on Staal’s tenth of the season.
The Hurricanes doubled the lead at 1:27 of the third when Seth Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov combined to spring Sebastian Aho on a breakaway. Aho kept it simple and beat Sergei Bobrovsky five-hole with a wrister from between the circles.
That trio would produced a power-play goal 6:07 later to put the Cats in a three-goal hole. After moving the puck around the zone, Jarvis crossed the seam to Svechnikov, who was denied by Bobrovsky. The rebound came to Aho and he fired it by Bob’s blocker.
Brad Marchand would trigger the comeback with his 20th of the campaign, which came at the 10:16 mark. Following a near miss, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett worked the puck out from behind the net to Marchand and he whacked it home to finally solve Brandon Bussi, who the Panthers lost to Carolina on waivers on October 5.
The Cats would pull Bobrovsky and halve the deficit with 2:25 left on the clock. Marchand let go off a shot from the left point that was deflected on goal by Sam Reinhart. Evan Rodrigues chipped the rebound through the crease and Bennett slapped the bounce off the ice through the legs of Jalen Chatfield and into the yawning net.
Reinhart would complete the rally with 42 seconds to go and Bobrovsky again on the bench. After receiving the puck from Anton Lundell, Rodrigues’ floater from the left point was blocked by Jaccob Slavin, Marchand collected the rebound below the goal line and patiently waited for a lane to open before centering out to Reinhart, who one-timed the feed by Bussi to send the crowd into a delighted frenzy and the game to overtime.
The teams combined for five shots in extra session, but the goalies would net yield. Carolina lost Jarvis after he crashed into the post after being tripped by Rodrigues, who escaped justice.
After Reinhart opened the scoring in the shootout in the top of round two, Jackson Blake scored a beauty in the bottom of the third to extend. Rodrigues would busy his hands as he journeyed towards the net before snapping a shot home to put the Panthers back in a winning position. Bobrovsky then stoned Nikolaj Ehlers to finally end the game and Bussi’s nine-game winning streak.
The incredible comeback, which saw Florida score three times on 15 third period shots, gave the red-hot Panthers their first four-game winning streak of the season. They are on a 7-1-1 run that has vaulted them into second place in the Atlantic Division. The Cats will get right back at it this evening, with a chance to sweep the homestand, when they face the St. Louis Blues.
The Five Hole
This marked the first time in franchise history that the Panthers won after being down by three goals with ten minutes remaining in the game.
Brad Marchand is the first Cat to twenty goals and he became the fourth-fastest player in NHL history to reach the twenty mark in a season at age 37 or older.
Marchand, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart each produced a goal and an assist. Evan Rodrigues (two assists) was Florida’s other multi-point player.
In addition to his pair of helpers and shootout winner, eRod won 18 faceoffs and registered six shots on goal.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 29 shots to collect his 15th victory of the season. He is in a four-way tie for the most wins in the league.