5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers 4, Ducks 3 (OT)

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Carter Verhaeghe buried a breakaway in overtime to put the Florida Panthers back into a playoff spot with a 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks at FLA Live Arena on Monday.
Entering a home-heavy portion of their schedule, the Panthers, who will play 14 of their final 22 games in Sunrise, currently own the second-wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 29-25-6.
"It's huge," Verhaeghe said of picking up two more big points. "We need some momentum coming into our homestand. We don't want to lose two in a row. It's awesome to get the win."
For a quick recap of the game, click
HERE
.
To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. CLUTCH CARTER

The Panthers turned their swag on in overtime.
Sent on a breakaway after Matthew Tkachuk and Eetu Luostarinen teamed up along the boards to get him the puck, Verhaeghe went from his backhand to his forehand before beating John Gibson at 1:42 of overtime to get the 4-3 win and complete the comeback for the Cats.

"Chucky and Luosty made great plays to break up the play and get me the puck on a breakaway," Verhaeghe said. "I just kind of walked up and tried to shoot and score."
Lighting the lamp 11 times in his last 16 games, Verhaeghe leads the Panthers with a career-high 30 goals. Of those goals, 24 have come at even-strength, which is tied for the seventh most in the NHL. Over the past two seasons, he paces the Panthers with 48 even-strength goals.
"If it's on his stick, we want that shot," head coach Paul Maurice said. "He's going to score a whole lot of goals. There are guys who score 20 or 30 and you think, 'Oh, they got lucky. That's not happening again.' I think it's the opposite for Carter."

2. DAD STRENGTH

Eric Staal showed off his dad strength against the Ducks.
After being joined by his three kids on the ice during the anthem as part of Kids Day at FLA Live Arena, the veteran forward went on to post easily one of the best performances of the season.
In addition to cutting the deficit to 2-1 in the second period with a tip-in goal, Staal tallied four shots on goal, one takeaway and went 6-for-11 (54.5%) in the faceoff circle. Dominant in the possession game, the Panthers led 25-5 in shot attempts when he was deployed at 5-on-5.

"It was Kids Day, so you had to make sure you were ready to go," said Staal, who's scored 11 goals in 50 games in 2022-23. "You want to show your kids you still got a little bit in the tank."
With Staal holding everything together in the middle, the third line -- both in terms of the eye test and the underlying numbers -- was the top trio against Anaheim. Over the 10:58 they shared the ice together, the Panthers owned lopsided advantages in shots on goal (17-2) and scoring chances (11-3).
"I liked the way our line played the whole night," Staal said. "I thought we were engaged early. We were rewarded with the tire there at the end. A big win, so we've got to follow it up."

3. LOMBO'S GOAL

That "tire" Staal mentioned was a game-saving moment.
Less than two minutes after Dmitry Kulikov scored to put the Ducks up 3-2 in the third period, the Panthers pulled even when a shot from Gustav Forsling went off Ryan Lomberg's skate and into the net to make it 3-3 with 5:51 left in regulation and eventually get the game to overtime.

"It was a great response by everybody to continue to stay with it and ultimately get the two points at the end of the night, which was big for us," Staal said of the team's response in the face of adversity. "Now we get a couple days to recover and be excited to get the next one."
His eighth goal of the season, Lomberg is now just one goal shy of matching the career-high nine he scored in 2022-23. Providing the Panthers with seemingly endless energy every time he hits the ice, the fiesty forward is one of six players on the team to not miss a game this season.
Against the Ducks, Lomberg finished tied for first on the Panthers with a +2 rating.

4. ON THE MARC

Not long after his brother got the Panthers on the board, Marc Staal tied things up.
Jumping up in the rush, Staal finished off a textbook give-and-go with Tkachuk by crashing the net and sending the puck past Gibson to make it 2-2 at 17:23 of the second period.

"I gave it to Chucky and put my stick on the ice far-post," Staal said. "You guys have seen him make plays like that all year long. He just put it right on my tape and I tapped it in."
Overall, Staal has scored in two of his last three games.
"I've gone through stretches where I don't score," said Staal, who's known more for his stay-at-home defense and physicality. "I get 3-5 goals a year, whatever it is. That's the way it's always gone. I wasn't stressing too much about it, but it's nice to contribute in that way and get a win."
The sixth set of brothers to record a goal in the same game for the same team in the past ten years, Eric and Marc are also the second set of brothers to score in the same game for Florida.
The other two?
Pavel and Valeri Bure on Feb. 13, 2002.

5. A DESERVED WIN

"We needed the win, and we got it," Maurice said.
Looking at the numbers, the Panthers also deserved it.
Taking a closer look at NaturalStatTrick.com, the Panthers simply dominated the Ducks in shot attempts (92-39), shots on goal (54-23) scoring chances (49-22) an expected goals (4.92-2.64).
If not for a 51-save performance from Gibson, the end result likely wouldn't have been as close.
"I think we ended up with 92 shot attempts," Maurice said. "We played the game at the right end of the rink. Those are dangerous games. [The Ducks] have got enough skill, so they don't need a lot of chances to beat your goalie, and then you get into a tight game. We didn't come off it."
Overall, those 92 shot attempts are the third-most for Florida in a game this season.
"All game I felt like we were kind of in control," Verhaeghe said. "We were getting tons of chances, but we weren't able to finish them. I think we deserved to win that game."