Panthers win third straight
Florida continues impressive climb up standings
SUNRISE — As the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday night, they showed why the team could remain unchanged at Monday’s trade deadline. But it also hinted why they could have used a little help.
The Panthers got goals from franchise cornerstones Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, plus the game-winning goal from Jared McCann with 1:13 remaining in overtime. Barkov and Huberdeau are part of the club’s long-term future and anchor the young core that allowed Dale Tallon to bypass any trades a day prior.
But the Maple Leafs also pushed Florida’s defense, nearly doubling the Panthers’ even-strength shot attempts and scoring chances through the first two periods. Like they did a week ago against the Panthers, Toronto fired shots from the slot on goaltender Roberto Luongo. Toronto finished with 39 shots on goal.
In the end, though, the good outweighed the bad on Tuesday night.
The win was Florida’s third straight victory and 10th in its last
13 games, boosting them up the Eastern Conference playoffs and into postseason contention. The club entered Tuesday seven points back of Columbus for a playoff spot with four games in hand.
As the Panthers climbed the standings, they morphed into buyers at the trade deadline, rumored to be interested in Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh and Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty. But the team didn’t make a deal on Monday on a day Tallon called “frustrating” because of the high asking prices on the market.
Teams coveted top Panthers prospects like Henrik Borgstrom, plus high draft picks. The Panthers chose not to let the present cloud the future that Barkov and Huberdeau should play a big part in.
With a first-period power-play goal, Barkov tied his career-high in points with 59. Tuesday was his 59th game of the season, putting him on pace for a point-per-game season. His goal against Toronto happened so quickly, people in the arena didn’t even know it happened.
Huberdeau collected a feed from Vincent Trocheck behind the net. With a fake that he was going left, he turned Maple Leafs goaltender Curtis McElhinney. But then Huberdeau changed directions and found Barkov on the edge of the crease. Barkov roofed the puck with McElhinney facing the opposite direction, but the puck bounced out so hard that no one celebrated. The goal horn didn’t sound, and Barkov’s subtle celebration did little to draw attention to himself.
It was Huberdeau’s turn next. In the opening minutes of the second period, Huberdeau scored his 19th goal of the season as Trocheck picked up another assist. If Barkov’s goal was about quickness, Huberdeau’s was about patience.
Huberdeau cruised through the slot toward the left circle and drew McElhinney out of the net. As McElhinney approached Huberdeau, he waited. Then he found space to tuck a backhander past McElhinney’s right pad, getting it to trickle into the net.
Then Toronto made its comeback.
It began with a Mike Matheson turnover behind the Panthers net that resulted in a loose puck in front. As a crowd developed, Luongo lost his stick. The puck popped out to Dominic Moore, who beat a stickless Luongo.
William Nylander took center stage with a tremendous effort that set up Zach Hyman’s tying goal in the second period. He hounded the puck off Evgenii Dadonov in the neutral zone. He sped in on Luongo, but then left the puck for a crashing Hyman. He tapped it in.
The victory also edged the Panthers closer to the end of a grueling stretch of games against potential playoff teams. Starting with a victory over Calgary on Feb. 17, the Panthers are 4-2-0 in a part of their schedule that also included Pittsburgh, Winnipeg and Toronto twice. Once the calendar flips to March, the slate softens, with teams like Montreal, the Rangers, Ottawa, Edmonton and Arizona heading to Sunrise.
mdefranks@ sun-sentinel.com