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April 3, 2022
Florida panthers

The Florida Panthers found themselves down four goals to the New Jersey Devils early in the third period on Saturday afternoon but they were just getting warmed up.

“The Cats are coming!” Ryan Lomberg shouted from the bench before his team began its ascent.

“We’re coming!”

Indeed.

With the Panthers playing an early game after some travel issues — and, scheduled to play a game the next afternoon in Buffalo — they very easily could have just packed it in.


You know, ‘Today’s just not our day.’

Or, ‘We’ll get ‘em next time.’

The Panthers simply are not wired that way.

Florida ended up stunning the Devils on Saturday, scoring four times in the third period — including two from Sasha Barkov with goalie Spencer Knight on the bench — to force overtime.

Gus Forsling capped things off as the Panthers sprinted out of Newark with an improbable 7-6 victory.

“We took over in the third and just started playing out game,” Barkov said.

“We were trying to win every battle that we could get to. Good things happen when you win your one-on-one battles and your teammates are doing the same thing. That’s what happened.”

The Panthers put together their fourth comeback of three goals or more this season to tie an NHL record.

“I think we’ve shown throughout the course of the season that we’re a very gritty team,” coach Andrew Brunette said.

“We have resilience and we have self-belief. We weren’t very good for almost 50 minutes and I believe the momentum switched when we finally got one.”

Brandon Montour started the comeback effort up with a blast from the point 5:34 into the third to bring Florida back within three.

About 90 seconds later, Forsling got on the board to cut New Jersey’s four-goal second intermission lead in half.

“We said in the room, ‘let’s get two before the ten-minute mark’,” Montour said.

“A two-goal lead in a hockey game, that’s scary for anybody. So to get those two quick goals, add in some power plays, getting some confidence there, we just kept pushing along.”

During the third period, the Panthers outshot the Devils 23-5 and led 15-5 in scoring chances and 7-0 in high-danger chances.

It was a big step up from their play during the first two periods.

“We never count ourselves out until the game is over,” Montour said.

“To have the confidence we have as a group, no matter who was on the ice, guys were fired up every shift. And even after that first goal, we kept on pushing along, kept grinding them.”

With five minutes to go in the third period, Brunette made the decision to pull his goaltender.

Barkov answered the call just 23 seconds later to bring the Panthers within a goal.

“It’s tough to say we enjoy playing [6-on-5] because you have one choice and you need to score the goal to tie the game,’’ Barkov said.

“I think we’re getting better at that. We’ve been figuring out where to move the puck and when to shoot and stuff like that, and I think we did a really good job at the end.

“We got a lot of guys at the net, the shooters were ready to shoot, and the defensemen moved the puck really well, so everything clicked at the end.”

Florida’s 6-on-5 play connected again as Barkov tied it up with a blast with 1:22 to go off of a feed from MacKenzie Weegar.

“He has been Mr. Clutch,” Brunette said of Barkov.

“He’s been such an instrumental piece of our group, he’s our leader and our captain and I love that he’s rising up to the big moments because we’re going to need him going forward.”

Forsling capped off Florida’s comeback effort with a snap shot from the high slot 1:45 into overtime.

The Panthers tied a franchise record with their 47th win of the season and can clinch a playoff spot on Sunday with either a win against the Buffalo Sabres or a New York Islanders loss to the Devils.

“To be a part of this group, winning helps a lot, but we’re also playing fun hockey,” Barkov said.

“We’re a really talented group, we’re learning from each other every day. It’s a lot of fun.”

UP NEXT FOR THE FLORIDA PANTHERS

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT BUFFALO SABRES  

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