Believeland: Florida Panthers Never Gave Up against Hurricanes

SUNRISE — Things did not look good for the Florida Panthers on Friday, not when Carolina’s Sebastian Aho scored his second of the night to give his team a three-goal lead.

Not with Brandon Bussi looking like an All-Star in net.

Not with the way the Panthers were missing one good chance after another.

Paul Maurice joked that he was “a little grumpy’’ with his team trailing, only Brad Marchand was leading the cheers on the bench.

“We’re down 3, and he’s screaming ‘we can do this!’ And he scores the first one,’’ Maurice said. “That was really the big one, gave us some life.”

Of course, Maurice later added, Marchand does that whether his team is down one goal — or five.

Marchand, fittingly, got the comeback started.

In the end, the Panthers scored three goals in the final 9:44 of the third period to force overtime.

Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues scored in the four-round shootout and the Panthers pulled victory from the jaws of defeat with a 4-3 win.

It was Florida’s first-ever win when trailing by 3 at the midway point of the third period.

Friday was also Florida’s second 3-goal comeback in the past two weeks.

Against the Blue Jackets, the Panthers trailed 4-1 in the second — but rallied to win 7-6 in overtime.

“It’s a great win. We have to just stay focused and come back to our routine. Build from this, build from this moment,’’ Bobrovsky said. “We have lots and lots of work to do and we’re excited about the challenge. … It’s a great comeback against a really good defensive team. It shows the character of the locker room, our structure and our game.”

Following the game, one word continued to pop up: Belief.

The Panthers simply did not give up nor lose their faith in one another.

“Belief is where it starts. We knew we needed one and that anything could happen,’’ Marchand said. “We’ve scored three goals in 10 minutes before, we knew we could do it again. It doesn’t take much for this group to produce. Everyone is kind of coming around and having their game going right now.”

Marchand, when asked, said the Panthers have been in bigger scrapes than this — and in bigger moments, too.

After all, this was just Game No. 34 of a 82-game regular season.

“Teams that give up and teams that don’t is the difference between championship teams,’’ Marchand said. “We’ve been in much bigger games. … We’ve come back in bigger games than this, and know we can do it.’’

Marchand, Bennett, and Reinhart scored the goals in the third — two of which coming with Sergei Bobrovsky on the bench allowing the Panthers to have an extra attacker.

The Panthers have not had much success when they have pulled the goalie this season, teams finding a way to score into that empty net on a pretty frequent basis.

Not Friday, however.

Although he did not make the scoresheet, Anton Lundell “saved the game,’’ according to Marchand.

In the final minute, Andrei Svechnikov got loose on a breakaway and crossed into the Florida zone with that wide open net in front of him. Lundell picked his pocket, got the puck out of danger and Reinhart tied it moments later.

“That’s a great play, and it’s not an easy play against a really good player,” Bennett said of Lundell. “He’s obviously not a defenseman, but he looked like he knew what he was doing back there. We don’t win the game if he doesn’t make that play. Huge play by him.”

Rodrigues had two assists, the winner in the shootout, and was seemingly everywhere on the ice.

He even popped Sean Walker in the face at the end of overtime after taking offense to Walker’s hit on Reinhart along the boards.

Oh, and Rodrigues took 29 faceoffs and won 62 percent of them.

Then there was Seth Jones.

Jones did not make the scoresheet, but his 30:47 was 7 minutes more than anyone not wearing goalie pads.

His play, as it has been all season, was quite impressive.

“I don’t think people appreciate how well Seth Jones is playing for us right now,’’ Maurice said. “He and Niko have been fantastic … He doesn’t get statistical notice, but his game is right on. He’s dominant for me.”

The Panthers play the St. Louis Blues later tonight.

Florida is wrapping up another stretch of three games in four nights with another coming before the New Year.

With the win Friday, the Panthers moved into a tie for second place in the Atlantic Division — a point back of Detroit for first.

Before beating the Blue Jackets, the Panthers were a point out of last place in the conference.

ON DECK: GAME No. 35

ST. LOUIS BLUES at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Saturday, 6 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• This Season — At Florida: Saturday. At St. Louis: Jan. 29.
• Last Season: Panthers won 2-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: St. Louis leads 27-15-1, 3 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Tuesday at Carolina Hurricanes, 7 p.m.