Reinhart celebrates after scoring a goal in the second period. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The Panthers got another two points after a hard game against the Dallas Stars. Florida dominated long stretches of the match, but opportunistic scoring from Dallas kept the game tied and sent things to OT and eventually a shootout. Brad Marchand was back in the lineup after taking time away due to a death in his circle. Sebrango made his Cats debut after Florida picked him off waivers from Ottawa. HC Paul Maurice said after the game to the media, “I liked it. It was predictable, it was hard, it was fast. He looked comfortable.” Special teams were a bit of a concern again, as they allowed the Stars to tie the game before the end of the second period. A strong performance from Bobrovsky led to the Panthers’ shootout win.
Strong First:
For a scoreless first period, there were a lot of positive things that Florida did. They had a lot of speed and dominated zone possession for the majority of the period. The penalty kill did its job on the Stars’ power play and didn’t allow a shot. Florida’s power play had a fantastic scoring chance with net front chaos, but they weren’t able to jam the puck home. Verhaeghe was especially noticeable in the first period, where he had the puck on his stick frequently and was taking shots. It was probably his best period of the season so far. Stat-wise, things were pretty even between the Cats and the Stars, but the eye test said that the ice was tilted in Florida’s favor. The Panthers haven’t always come out swinging in the opening period, but they had plenty of jump on Saturday; though it probably helps that they haven’t played a game since Tuesday. All in all, it was a very promising first period.
Goal Scoring Second:
The game cracked open in the second period, where goals were finally put on the board. Brad Marchand, just under two minutes into the period, opened the scoring on a shot that went in on the glove side of DeSmith. The play started back in Florida’s zone, where Lundell picked off a pass and made a pass up the ice to Luostarinen. Eetu then made the pass over to Marchand, who scored. In celebration of his goal, Marchy pointed toward the sky in honor of his friend’s daughter, who passed away. When he spoke to the media, Brad said, “If anything, this week has taught me there’s so many incredible moments in life you just have to enjoy and not take too seriously and just kind of be in the moment. I wasn’t nervous or anything out there. It was more a great opportunity to honor Selah.” Reinhart doubled the lead quickly off a shot he took at the goal line, where the puck bounced off DeSmith and into the net for the 2-0 lead. Verhaeghe had taken an initial shot that hit the post, and Reinhart picked up the rebound to score; Rodrigues got the secondary assist. Samson now has goals in four straight games, and that was his 300th career goal. Things looked good until Jones went to the box for a high-sticking double minor. Dallas then scored two power-play goals in short order, one from Johnston and one from Hryckowain in the span of 14 seconds. Things were back to square one heading into the third with a 2-2 tie game.
To The Shootout:
Late into the third period, Sam Bennett scored the go-ahead goal when he picked up a rebounding puck off a Forsling shot and put it past DeSmith. With less than three minutes to go, Rantanen tied the game again, tipping in a shot from Steel over Bobrovsky’s shoulder. Both teams had a flurry of chances in OT, although Dallas killed a bunch of time off the clock by holding possession and not shooting. Bobrovsky was huge late in OT when the Stars had several chances to take the win. Instead, things went to a shootout for a second straight game. However, this time things fell in Florida’s favor. DeSmith made saves on Lundell and Reinhart, but Marchand came in with speed and was able to get the goal by shooting the puck five-hole. Brad credited Rodrigues with giving him some tips on the bench for the shootout. On the other side, Bob made saves on Robertson, Seguin, and Rantanen with some help from the goal posts; both Seguin and Rantanen hit the post, but the puck didn’t bounce in. Florida took 5 of 8 points during the homestand as they prepare for their first West Coast trip of the season.
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