5 Takeaways: Driedger, Vatrano Lead Panthers to OT Win in Dallas

Frank Vatrano can't put his finger on the reason behind it, but he's becoming "Mr. Clutch."
Netting his team-leading fifth game-winning goal of the season, the fiery sniper blasted home a one-timer from the right circle in overtime to help the Panthers snap out of a three-game losing streak with an exhilarating 3-2 victory over the Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

"I love scoring goals," Vatrano said. "It's nice to be put in some of those opportunities sometimes. It's just luck of the draw with me putting them in at the right times right now. I'll take it when I can get them."
Improving to 27-12-4 with the win, the Panthers are now locked into a three-way tie with the Lightning (28-12-2) and Hurricanes (27-10-4) for first place in a heated Central Division race.
"The race is back on for us," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "We're still in the mix."
Filling up the back of the net in recent weeks, Aleksander Barkov broke the ice tonight when he collected a feed from Markus Nutivaara as he was cutting right to the top of the blue paint and slipped a shot through Anton Khudobin's five-hole to make it 1-0 at 11:50 of the opening period.
Helping the Stars answer less than a minute later, Jason Robertson picked up his fourth goal of the season against the Panthers when he jumped on a loose puck in the slot and lifted a shot over Chris Driedger and into the cage to even things back up and make it a 1-1 game at 12:42.
Putting a smile on everyone's face in the second period, Radko Gudas put the Panthers back on top when his shot from below the blue line took a fortuitous bounce off a defender's stick and floated right over Khudobin and into the net for his first goal of the season to make it 2-1 at 2:45.
"Losing three [in a row] is never fun," Gudas said. "I knew we had this in us. We didn't get bounces the last few games and I thought we just weren't ourselves. I thought today was a step in the right direction. I'm really happy the way the guys battled right until the end."
After a shot rang off the post, Joe Pavelski, who leads the Stars in pretty much every offensive category imaginable, managed to get the game tied up once again when he cashed in on the ensuing juicy rebound to make it 2-2 at 8:26 with his team-leading 16th goal of the campaign.
Making sure the Panthers would earn at least a point, Driedger was a brick wall during the final 10 minutes of regulation. Just a few minutes after diving backwards to stop the puck from rolling over the goal line, he then denied Pavelski on a 2-on-1 break to help get the game to overtime.
Driedger finished with 24 saves, while Khudobin made 28.
"A miraculous save," Quenneville said of Driedger's goal-line stop. "That was by the thinnest of margins. And then another big save on Pavelski as well. He had two huge saves."
Once the game got past 60 minutes, it was No. 77's time to shine. Locked and loaded, Vatrano teed up a perfect pass from Gustav Forsling on the power play and rocketed a one-timer past Khudobin to light the lamp and lock in the 3-2 win at 3:09 of overtime.
"They watch for a minute and change, and then they get out there and they score a big quick one," Quenneville said. "Happy for Frankie. He scores some big goals for us. A great shot."
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's win in the Lone Star State…

1. BARKOV STAYS HOT

Barkov is just operating at a few degrees hotter than everyone else right now.
Finding the back of the net for the 10th time over his last 12 games -- no, that's not a typo -- the Panthers captain opened the scoring tonight when he took a pass from Nutivaara in the low slot and snuck a shot through Khudobin's five-hole to make it a 1-0 game at 11:50 of the first period.

Leading the Panthers in goals (18) and points (44), Barkov has been one of the most-effective scorers in the league for more than a month. Dating back to March 11, the ranks fourth among his peers in points-per game (1.42), just slightly ahead of Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby (1.41).
In five games against Dallas this season, Barkov has lit the lamp four times.

2. A GRIN FROM GUDAS

This might've been the feel-good goal of the season so far.
Taking a pass from Keith Yandle, Gudas let loose a shot from just beyond the right circle that caught a piece of a defender's stick and knuckle-pucked its way over Khudobin and into the net to send the Panthers ahead 2-1 with first goal of the season just 2:45 into the second stanza.
Despite his fuzzy forest of a beard, Gudas' smile shined through following the score.

"I finally got one through," Gudas said. "I got a little lucky there, but I'm really happy it went through. It was a pretty exciting time to see all the guys pumped for me. It was pretty cool."
Known more for the pain he imprints on the opposition more than the points he puts up, Gudas continues to be nothing short of spectacular for the Panthers. Bringing a physical presence to the blue line, he's tallied six points (one goal, five assists) to go along with a team-high 190 hits.

3. THE CLUTCH CAT

The later a game goes, the more dangerous Vatrano gets.
With only a few seconds left on the power play, the 27-year-old forward came up in the clutch once again when he buried a one-timer to lift the Cats to a crucial 3-2 win at 3:09 of overtime.
"Any time you score a goal it's an unbelievable feeling, whether it's a game-winner or a goal to put your team within reach," Vatrano said. "A great effort all around by the guys tonight."

Tied for third on the Panthers in goals with 14, a whopping 11 of Vatrano's scores have come in the third period or overtime this season, including three game-winners in the extra frame. Never afraid to fire the biscuit, he also ranks third on the team in shots with 124, including four tonight.
"He does have the flare," Quenneville said of Vatrano. "He does make some nice shots. We want to shoot a lot, and Frankie's got a great shot. He's moved up on that power play unit there, so he's getting even more of an opportunity to play and use that weapon of his."

4. A MIRACULOUS SAVE

Quenneville described Driedger's third-period save as simply "miraculous."
With the puck sliding behind him after being re-directed toward the net, the Panthers goaltender turned and lunged backwards, reaching out his paddle just in time to stop the rubber from going over the goal line to keep the game tied 2-2 with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation.

"It kind of pinballs around in front of me, hits a skate and then it's going straight in," Driedger said of the incredible sequence. "You just go, like you said, into instinct mode. Fortunately, I was able to catch it with the hook of my blade there. Those can always go the opposite way, so it's nice when those go your way."
Improving to 12-5-2, Driedger continues to provide the Panthers with exceptional goaltending every time he's in the net. Turning aside 24 of 26 shots tonight, his .930 save percentage on the season ranks behind only Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy's mark of .932% among eligible starters.
"He's been great for us all year," Vatrano said. "He's definitely a guy we can rely on."

5. FILLING THE VOID

There's no doubt tonight's win helped take away the sting of some rough pre-game news.
Sitting second on the team in goals (17) and third in points (35), Carter Verhaeghe is suffering from an upper-body injury and considered week-to-week, according to a release from the Cats.
While it won't be easy to replace Verhaeghe's production, the Panthers will thankfully be getting some reinforcements in the very near future as several of the team's pre-deadline acquisitions should be available to play during the team's upcoming two-game series against the Lightning.
"We're going to have fresh bodies meet us in Tampa," Driedger said. "That'll spark the boys."
Also helping fill the void, Anthony Duclair returned to action tonight after missing six games with an injury of his own. In addition to drawing the penalty that paved the way for Vatrano's game-winning goal, the 25-year-old forward also chipped in an assist over 18:28 of ice time tonight.
"I thought he played a heck of a game," Quenneville said of Duclair.