*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
The Florida Panthers are for real. This season has been their best in recent memory. They showed it again on Thursday night. 3 Panthers scored in 3:11, Frank Vatrano scored the game winner, and the Panthers pulled off a wild 3-2 comeback win against the Dallas Stars on Thursday night, with an impressive late game 3rd period comeback.
The scoring didn't start until the second period, when Joe Pavelski got the Stars on the board with a power play goal 2:10 into the period. At the 17:49 mark, Jamie Benn increased the Stars lead to 2-0 with his 4th goal of the season. At the 13:39 mark of the 3rd, Alexsander Barkov started the Panthers comeback with his 8th goal of the season. 1:02 later, Anton Stralman potted a goal to tie things at two. 2:19 after the tying goal, Vatrano scored what ended up being the game winner to complete the comeback.
Barkov said of the big win for the Panthers that "Bounce-back games are always huge. You can't lose two in a row. We actually mentioned that before the game. It's going to get us far if we keep playing like this, playing extra hard, kind of pissed off hockey after we lose. We obviously don't want to lose at all, but it gives us an extra boost for us to come out harder during the next game."
Sergei Bobrovsky got the start in net for the Panthers, and had a fantastic night, stopping 37 shots out of the 39 that came his way. Bobrovsky is having a very good season, like the rest of the team, with his record now standing at 6-2-1 after the win. The Panthers, meanwhile, are sitting at a remarkable 13-4-2 this season, first place in the NHL's Central Division.
Bobrovsky talked about his performance postgame, saying that "I felt good. Right from the beginning, I felt comfortable. The guys stepped up. It's a great win for us. Those kinds of wins when you're down 2-0 and then all of the sudden you find a way to win the game, it gives a great boost of energy in the locker room. Put the points in the bank. That's so important, especially for the end of the season."
Stars rookie goalie Jake Oettinger was the tough luck loser, despite having a fantastic night himself. Oettinger saved 32 shots out of the 35 that came his way, but it wasn't enough to give Dallas the win. Oettinger's record now sits at 2-1-3 after the loss, his first in regulation this season. Dallas sits in 6th place in the Central Division, with just a 6-5-4 record so far.
Stars coach Rick Bowness laid down some criticism at the end of the game, saying that "That's why they're battling for first place and this is why we're battling to get back to a race for the playoffs. There's got to be some ownership taken here. Look at who let us down again tonight, the veterans, they did. The defense has to be better than that. You can't get beat off the boards, you can't be turning pucks over like we did, so they're going to have to take some ownership here."
The Stars head down to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning on Saturday, with Anton Khudobin slated to draw the start for the Stars. The Panthers welcome the Carolina Hurricanes to town on Saturday, with Bobrovsky expected to start once again.
Comments
Post a Comment