Florida kicked off what they anticipated to be a tough week of playoff-caliber games against Dallas Tuesday night, and the Stars certainly delivered. The Panthers got outplayed for the majority of the game, with Bobrovsky being the saving grace that kept them in it even when things looked pretty dire. Special teams were another bright spot in a game where the 5v5 play was lackluster at the best of times and frustratingly bad at the worst. The Cats finally found their groove in the 3rd period, where they shifted the momentum to their side and got rewarded for the effort. In a match that was filled with few highs until it was crunch time in regulation, Florida did what great teams do and found a way to win even when it looked like everything was going wrong.
Sergei Bobrovsky Excellence:
I’ve talked more than once about the excellent goaltending tandem the Panthers have this year. Tuesday night saw another outstanding outing from Bobrovsky, even if his 12 game streak of allowing two goals or less ended. Bob got tested early in the period when the Cats had issues keeping up with Dallas’ speed. That’s not surprising, given that they struggled in their match against New Jersey back in January. The Panthers haven’t played Dallas since back in early December and haven’t seen a lot of teams that play with the speed that the Stars do. That said, this match would’ve ended up a lot worse if not for the heroic saves of Bobrovsky. He anticipated Dallas passes, used poke checks, and made glove and blocker saves to keep the Stars close. Dallas had all the offensive momentum in the first two periods; Bob stopped ten high-danger chances in just the first period. There were enough great saves from him to make a highlight reel just from that game alone. For the match, Bob walked away with a .900 SV%, stopped 27 out of 30 shots, and was the 2nd star of the night.
Special Teams Stayed Strong:
There was no shortage of special teams Tuesday night, so plenty of extra ice time for the heavy hitters on both teams. Dallas had five power plays, while the Cats had 4. Florida was struggling in the five-on-five play; they were a step behind Dallas in terms of speed, which meant the great forecheck pressure we expected to see was non-existent. The PK did its job in the 1st period and killed off both penalties, but they did allow more SOG, with the Stars using both their skating speed and quick puck movement to get chances. Of the five powerplays for Dallas, though they’d only score on one of them, the PK otherwise was solid. The star of the Florida offense was the power play, of the 4 PP they got they converted 3 of them into goals. The only PP they didn’t score on was their first one, where they were feeling out the Stars’ PK. Sam Reinhart scored his 26th power play goal and 46th of the year. Barkov scored both his goals on the power play as well, bringing his goal total up to 18. The difference in special teams effectiveness was the deciding factor in this game and it’s the other reason why Florida walked away with a win.
Comeback Cats:
Things went from bad to worse in the first 40 minutes of play as the Stars had as much as a 0-3 lead at one point in the 2nd period. While the officiating was questionable at times, Florida didn’t look like the best team in the league in the first two periods. Passes off target, plays being misread, poor puck management, none of these things fans expect to see out of the Panthers at this point. The Cats got their 2nd power play in the back half of the 2nd period, where none other than Sam Reinhart scored from the slot, even with 4 guys on him. Suddenly, the 3 goal lead was cut down to 2 goals heading into the last period, and the game felt more manageable. The Panthers have consistently been one of the best 3rd period teams, and Tuesday night was no exception. Suddenly, the Florida team fans expected to see was back in action, and with under 10 minutes to play, they completely flipped the script. Barkov scored on the power play to cut the deficit again, and then Bennett scored the only even-strength goal to tie the game. They weren’t finished with as Barkov struck again this time tipping in a shot from Verhaeghe to score and take the lead for the first time with just over 5 minutes to play. Despite a late offensive push from Dallas, the Panthers held onto the lead as time ran out and walked away with the win, 2 points, and a 3-point gap to Vancouver, who’s 2nd & Boston, who’s 3rd in the NHL. Thursday night, Florida heads back to Carolina for a much-anticipated rematch. The last time these two teams played, the game went completely scoreless until the last 16 seconds of regulation, where Carolina took the 0-1 win.
