George Richards, FHN Publisher
When Jonathan Huberdeau and Owen Tippett took off moments after Spencer Knight made a big save this early in the Panthers game Monday night against the Dallas Stars, we all probably should have buckled in for a wild night of hockey.
Huberdeau scored a beautiful goal off Tippett’s pass less than two minutes in Monday and things just took off from there.
The Panthers scored four goals in the first period (well, one went in the wrong net) then Dallas scored twice in a span of 11 seconds to tie it in the third.
That all came before Sasha Barkov scored with 2:10 left in overtime to give the Panthers a 5-4 victory at BB&T Center.
It was one of those games in which Dallas pulled starter Anton Khudobin — who had been so good against the Panthers this season — and replaced him with rookie Jake Oettinger who made 27 saves before Barkov scored on a power play chance in OT.
It was also a night in which Florida’s 20-year-old rookie goalie gave up those two quick goals yet held on to make NHL history as Knight became the youngest to start a career 4-0.
Just another wild night in Sunrise, eh?
For the Stars, getting to OT was a win and Oettinger was a big reason why.
Dallas is now four points back of Nashville in the playoff race.
If not for Oettinger, it would have been five.
”They’re a desperate team trying to make the playoffs,” MacKenzie Weegar said. “We knew that coming in. With (Tyler) Seguin coming back, we knew they would have an extra jump in their step.
“They battled hard. They’re a good team. But we found a way to get the two points and that’s all that matters.”
The Panthers won their fourth consecutive game and kept pace with the Central-leading Hurricanes who beat the Blackhawks in the opener of their three-game series.
The Panthers, by winning Monday, have two games left in the regular season and still control their destiny when it comes to taking second place in the division — and home ice in the opening round of the playoffs.
Florida, which won six of eight against Dallas this season, had a pair of two-goal leads in the first period (and one in the third) only to see the Stars fight back.
After Huberdeau’s sick backhanded goal, Nikita Gusev jumped on a loose puck and put it past Khudobin to make it 2-0 just 2:42 into the game.
Dallas made it 2-1 on a Joe Pavelski power play goal 10 minutes later, but Weegar buried a drop-pass from Tippett at 14:13.
The 3-1 lead wouldn’t last.
WEEGAR’S OWN GOAL
Trying to get the puck out of harms way from behind the net, Weegar made an off-balanced clearing pass that went right at the Florida goal.
Knight didn’t see it, the puck snapped off his skate and went backward — right into the net.
It took the NHL a few minutes to figure out who, exactly would get credit for the goal.
Roope Hintz was decided to be the last Dallas player to touch the puck, so, he gets credit for it.
”Those are going to happen … and we had a couple of laughs in the room,” Weegar said. “I didn’t see the guy behind me, things happen quick. I just swept it away and it ended up going in the back of the net.
”I was trying to get the hat trick tonight. Too bad I didn’t.”
The Panthers got the lead back to two early in the second when Gus Forlsing whipped a Grigori Denisenko pass through Khudobin.
Dallas coach Rick Bowness had seen enough, pulling his starting goalie in favor of Oettinger.
A first-round draft pick in 2017 out Boston University, Oettinger was one reason why Dallas didn’t qualify Philippe Desrosiers and allowed him to sign with the Panthers in 2019.
More on that Tuesday.
Regardless, Oettinger stood tall, as he has against the Panthers in previous games this season.
He kept the Panthers in check allowing Dallas to come back when Joel Kiviranta and Tyler Seguin scored 11 seconds apart early in the third period to tie the game up.
”I thought we did a good job after that,’’ Joel Quenneville said. “We generated some looks and were in their end again. A couple quick ones like that and it’s ‘what’s going to happen next?’ But for the most part, we did a lot of good things.”
Oettinger made sure it went to OT. He went into the extra period with 21 saves — and helped the Stars get a point they desperately needed.
There wasn’t much more he could do in overtime as he stopped the first five shots he faced included a breakaway from Anthony Duclair and a jab from Huberdeau down low.
KNIGHT MAKES HISTORY
Knight was making his third start and fourth appearance since leaving Boston College.
He ended up making 24 saves and became the youngest goalie in NHL history to win the first four games of his career.
Knight, who also won in relief last week at Nashville, is 4-0-0 in his short NHL career.
He is also the youngest goalie in Panthers history to ever win a game as best Columbus in his debut a day after his 20th birthday.
There have not been a whole lot of U.S.-born goalies drafted in the first round, but with Knight going against Oettinger, two of them were in Sunrise on Monday night.
While giving up two quick goals like that in the third are not ideal, Knight showed more of that composure the Panthers have been so impressed with by not giving up anything more.
”It was a good test, a good learning curve knowing that you have different situations and you always have to be prepared in the course of a game,” Quenneville said.
“Things change quickly. Momentum is very important, goaltenders influence momentum and he settled down after that and found a way to win. There is some good things to pick out of that game to improve upon. But he does a lot of good things.”
NEWS & NOTES
While Mason Marchment was back in the lineup Monday night, Quenneville said that Patric Hornqvist, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett would all return in the (regular) season-ending series against the Lightning.
Bennett was a newcomer to the injured list although Quenneville said it was nothing serious.
It honestly sounds like Monday was just a good day to give the guy a day off after his whirlwind tour of travel after being acquired by the Panthers at the trade deadline.
— Dallas had Seguin back in the lineup for the first time since Game 6 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals against the Lightning.
Seguin missing the season is one reason it appears the Stars will go from reigning Western Conference champs to being out of the playoffs.
— Both Sergei Bobrovsky and Chris Driedger were healthy scratches Monday and that’s just something you don’t see often — or at all.
Driedger did skate Monday and Quenneville says he will likely get one of the final two starts before the playoffs; Bobrovsky will get the other.
— Denisenko got his first NHL point on Saturday night in Chicago. Monday, he picked up two more assists to give him three.
— Gusev also got his first goal with the Panthers on Saturday. He was signed as a free agent at the deadline when he and New Jersey parted ways. Gusev had two goals in 20 games with the Devils; he has two in 10 with Florida and played a strong game Monday.
GEORGE’S THREE STARS OF THE NIGHT
1. Sasha Barkov, Florida
2. Owen Tippett, Florida
3. Jake Oettinger, Dallas
ON DECK: LIGHTNING AT PANTHERS
When: Saturday, 7
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise
Tickets: AVAILABLE HERE
Season series: Florida leads 3-2-1
TV: BS-FLA, Fox Sports Go streaming
Radio: WQAM 560-AM