5 TAKEAWAYS: Packed crowd powers Panthers to comeback win over Sharks

SUNRISE, Fla. -The Panthers put on a show for their biggest crowd of the season.
Playing in front of 18,152 rowdy fans, the Comeback Cats clawed their way back from down 3-1 in the third period to secure a 5-4 overtime win over the Sharks at FLA Live Arena on Saturday.

"We were having trouble scoring, but I felt we were close," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "We just needed one -- one play and then another play. We got a great play in overtime. A fun game. I'm sure we were a very entertaining team. I think our fans left happy."
After Jonathan Huberdeau lit the lamp to make it a 4-4 game just before the midway point of the third period, the all-star winger then set up Sam Bennett's game-winning goal 1:08 into overtime with a beautiful backdoor pass to lock in Florida's third third-period multi-goal comeback victory.
Atop the NHL standings at 31-9-5, the Panthers boast a remarkable 23-3-0 record at home.
"We know we're not giving up," Huberdeau said. "We had a lot of chances, but [James] Reimer was playing well and making some big saves. We knew we needed a couple goals, and we did that. It put pressure on them. We knew it was going to happen, and it did. It's a big two points."
While the ending was certainly fantastic, the journey was also rewarding.
Netting his team-high 22nd goal of the season, Tomas Hertl, touching twine for the first time in 12 career games against the Panthers, opened the scoring for the Sharks when he dashed into the low slot and slipped a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 1-0 at 6:10 of the first period.
On the power play later in period, the Sharks doubled their advantage when Jonathan Dahlen took a pass from Noah Gregor and buried a power-play goal to make it a 2-0 contest at 17:17.
Finally getting rewarded for their non-stop effort on offense just before the first intermission, the Panthers cut their deficit in half when, after some great pressure from the third line, Gustav Forsling teed up a pass from Sam Reinhart and one-timed a shot straight past Reimer to make it 2-1 at 19:06.
Even though the Sharks led heading into the intermission, the Panthers likely deserved an extra goal or two given all of the good looks they had. Per NaturalStatTrick.com, Florida finished the first period with sizeable advantages in both shot attempts (28-17) and scoring chances (15-9).
That trend would continue throughout the game as the Cats finished with 58 scoring chances.
But even with all that pressure it was the Sharks that continued to strike. Getting that late goal back less than two minutes into the second period, San Jose made it a 3-1 contest when Matt Nieto cruised right down the slot and one-time a pass from Nick Bonino into the back of the net.
Turning things around with a vintage give-and-go between two of the franchise's all-time greats, the Panthers trimmed their deficit to just one goal in the third period when Aleksander Barkov took a pass from Huberdeau and rifled a shot from the slot past Reimer to make it 3-2 at 1:26.
"We're relentless," Huberdeau said. "We kept working and we didn't give up."
Cashing in on the power play for a second time, San Jose regained its two-goal cushion when Dahlen roofed a shot from the right circle to make it 4-2 at 4:50. The Panthers then appeared to make it 4-3 quickly after, but Carter Verhaeghe's goal was taken off the board for being offside.
Refusing to be deflated, the Panthers remained undeterred despite the ruling.
Putting their foot right back on the pedal, Mason Marchment and Huberdeau then each notched goals from right around the opposing crease at 7:30 and 9:38, respectively, to bring fans to their feet and ride the ensuing energy that was overflowing from the arena all the way into overtime.
"Everyone believes in each other in here," Marchment said of the team's resolve. "With the fans and the way that we were playing that game, we just had to keep going, keep going and it was going to come. That sucks that it got turned over, but it didn't stop us from playing our game."
Keeping the door open for the Cats to make their comeback throughout the final 20 minutes of regulation, Bobrovsky, who finished with 30 saves, made more than a few game-saving stops.

"Those were lifesavers for us," Brunette said of his goaltender's heroics.
Once in the extra frame, Huberdeau set up shop behind San Jose's net and, after looking like he was going to attempt a lacrosse-style goal (known as the Michigan in hockey circles), sent a pinpoint pass to Bennett for a goal from right on top of the blue paint to lock in the wild 5-4 win.
"I guess I faked it," Huberdeau grinned when asked about the move. "I don't know how to do it. It worked. It kinda opened up Benny in front. I see it on Instagram a lot, so I just tried to fake it."
Dating back to Dec. 29, Florida is 13-2-1, including going a perfect 9-0-0 at home.
"The crowd was great," Brunette said. "It kept us going there at different stretches. Even though I felt we dictated a lot of the play, we were having trouble scoring. I felt momentum build and then the crowd got into it. It was a lot of fun to be a part of it. The group is just relentless."
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's win in Sunrise…

1. FORSLING FINDS TWINE

After pelting the opposing net with pucks, it was a defenseman that finally broke through.
Following some great work by the third line along the boards, Forsling took a feed from Reinhart and wired home a one-timer from the left circle past Reimer to make it 2-1 late in opening frame.
"We played a solid game," Forsling said. "We've just got to bring it."

Ranking third among Panthers defensemen in points (21) and assists (19), Forsling has also been heating up in the goal-scoring department. After waiting until Jan. 14 to cash in on his first of the season, the smooth-skating blueliner has now touched twine in two of his last for games.
Always a weapon in the possession game, Florida owned a 36-18 advantage in shot attempts when Forsling was deployed at 5-on-5 against the Sharks, according to NaturalSatTrick.com.

2. BARKOV BURIES ANOTHER

The captain continues to score at an absurd rate.
Teaming up with Huberdeau - something fans have seen a lot of over the years - the Panthers briefly made it a one-goal game when Barkov took a pass from his longtime teammate and fired a blistering shot into the back of the cate from the slot to make it 3-2 early on in the third period.
"They're going to create all the time together," Brunette said of the duo. "It's a luxury to have."

Put back together by Brunette as the team searched for a spark against the Sharks, the combination of Huberdeau, Barkov and Verhaeghe yielded great results. Spending 10:04 together at 5-on-5, Florida led 10-3 in shots and 2-0 in goals when they were on the ice.
As for Barkov in particular, the two-way superstar needed just 32 games this season to reach the shiny 20-goal mark, which places him behind only Hall of Famer Pavel Bure (23 games in 1999-00) for the fewest games ever needed to reach that mark in the history of the franchise.
Over his last six games, Barkov has netted five goals.

3. MARCHMENT RIDES THE WAVE

Is anyone have a better time than Marchment right now?
Padding his career-high stats with every point that he picks up, the physical forward earned two more tonight, including poking in his sixth goal of the campaign to make it 4-3 in the third period.
"I'm having a blast," Marchment said. "Every night is just so much fun, going out there and playing with those guys and playing in front of the fans. I'm just kind of riding the wave."

Suiting up in 20 games this season, Marchment has already set new career-best marks in goals (6), assists (11), points (17) and plus/minus (+16) while averaging just 13:05 of ice time per tilt.
"I'm feeling good," Marchment said. "After coming back from injury and COVID and stuff like that I kinda felt a little slow, just a second or two behind on plays out there. But now that I'm kind of rolling and I've been back for a little bit here, I'm feeling good. I love playing with those guys."

4. TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

Huberdeau isn't just visiting the top of the NHL's scoring leaderboard.
At this point, he's looking for real estate.
Racking up a goal and two assists during tonight's win for his eighth three-point outing of the season, the all-star winger now ranks first in the league in scoring all by himself with 62 points.
Of those points, a league-leading 45 have come in form of assists.

"I just feel his competitive nature and his compete and his will is at an all-time high," Brunette said. "His will to make those plays, to carry us on his back [at points], has been tremendous all season. To be in the front row to watch him grow into that player is pretty special."
Really catching fire back in November, Huberdeau, who fired up the home fans with his play against the Sharks, has recorded 42 points (10 goals, 32 assists) over his last 24 games.
"The crowd tonight was amazing and got us going," Huberdeau said.

5. BENNETT'S BIG GOAL

One of the reasons Huberdeau has so many assists is because he loves setting up Bennett.
Great teammates on the ice and even better friends off of it, the high-scoring duo showed off their combined skills when Huberdeau set up Bennett for the game-winning goal in overtime.
"It felt amazing," Bennett said. "The crowd was electric tonight."

Blowing past his previous career-high of 18 goals, Bennett leads the Panthers with 21 scores this season. One of the hottest goal-scorers in the NHL since the calendar turned to January, the grizzled forward is tied for first in the league with 12 goals through just 10 games in 2022.
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, nine of his goals this season have been assisted by Huberdeau.
"We're never out of the fight," Bennett said. "We battle right until the end."