Colby Guy
SUNRISE — When it comes to the Florida Panthers, you honestly cannot count them out of any game.
As much fun as Florida’s 7-6 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs was Tuesday night — after all, the Panthers were down four goals midway through the second period, there was some cold water thrown upon the comeback.
Coach Andrew Brunette certainly did not enjoy it as much as fans inside FLA Live Arena did.
You want to call them the ‘Comeback Cats,’ fine.
Brunette seemed to have at least a mild case of heartburn following his team’s second four-goal comeback in the past four days.
“It’s a little worrisome as much as it was impressive,” Brunette said.
“We know we can score goals but some of the things we were doing to fall behind and not being prepared for what was coming. A lot of resolve, a lot of grit in this group.”
The Panthers found themselves down 4-1 after the Maple Leafs struck with three goals in the first 2:04 of the second period.
Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled after allowing the first three shots he faced in the second, giving the net to Spencer Knight.
Jake Muzzin put the Maple Leafs ahead 5-1 near the halfway point of the second period.
From there, it was pretty much all Panthers.
Sam Reinhart struck on the power play for the second time with 9:08 left in the second period to spark a five-goal run that eventually gave the Panthers the lead.
“We’re a special team,” said Jonathan Huberdeau, who ended up being the hero of the night for Florida.
“Guys work hard, we never give up, and it shows a lot about our team.”
A minute after Reinhart made it a 5-2 game, Radko Gudas blasted a shorthanded slapshot from the blueline to bring Florida back within shouting distance.
Toronto goaltender Erik Kallgren was shaken up after taking a puck off the mask, sending Jack Campbell out in relief.
Campbell then allowed the second shot he saw.
With 2:04 left in the second, Claude Giroux slipped in behind the Toronto defense and put home a feed from Huberdeau to bring Florida within a goal.
It was Giroux’s first goal since joining the Panthers at the trade deadline.
“It is nice to be able to get a goal and help the team come back like we did tonight,” he said.
Huberdeau, already with two assists, got his third point of the night and, more importantly, tied the thing up at 5 with 17:15 left.
Sasha Barkov gave the Panthers the lead at 8:01 off a pass from Huberdeau.
John Tavares — a Panther killer dating back to his days with the Islanders in the 2016 playoffs — struck with a power play goal with 3:54 remaing to send the game to overtime.
Huberdeau finished the Maple Leafs, scoring off of a feed from Barkov with 2:13 left in overtime to give Florida the win.
With five points, Huberdeau became both the first player in Panthers history to score 100 points in a season and 600 points in a career.
Those are just a few of a long list of milestones he hit this year.
“Yeah, me and Barky I guess are taking a lot of pictures lately,” Huberdeau said of the seemingly nightly postgame photo shoot to commemorate milestones in the season as well as his career.
“A lot of milestones, obviously it’s pretty coo; With a win, too. It’s just been a fun year and I think it’s going to get more fun. It’s been fun but we haven’t done anything in the playoffs so that’s why we’re excited.”
He currently sits second in NHL with 102 points, four points behind Connor McDavid for the league lead.
Barkov believes Huberdeau should be the front-runner in the Hart Trophy for NHL MVP as well.
“If he is not there, he should be there right now,” he said.
“He has been unbelievable; he has been leading this team the whole season and [has taken] no nights off. He is solid every time he shows up and does his thing. It is incredible how good he is and how he does those things.”