5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers erase three-goal deficit to win in Ottawa

OTTAWA - No matter the deficit, the Panthers know they're never out of a game.
Trailing 3-0 in the second period, captain Aleksander Barkov tied the game late in regulation and then scored the deciding goal in the shootout as the "Comeback Cats" clawed their way back once again to secure a 4-3 win over the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

"We have the mindset that we're going to come back no matter what," said Barkov, who showed off his patented backhand in the skills competition. "We played a good game. Even in the first period down 2-0, and in the second period down 3-0, I feel like nobody even had one thought that we were going to lose this game."
Improving to 44-14-6 and maintaining a seven-point lead atop the Atlantic Division, the Panthers lead the league with three comeback victories while trailing by at least three goals this season.
"I think we've done it all year," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said of the team's impressive never-say-die mentality. "There's a good self-belief. They have fun together. They love to compete, and it showed again tonight."
Slipping behind the defense after the puck took an odd bounce, Alex Formenton broke the ice for the Senators when his breakaway attempt clanged off the crossbar, clipped off the back of Sergei Bobrovsky and trickled into the net to make it a 1-0 game at 7:54 into the first period.
Doubling the lead, Artem Zub followed up on a point shot from Josh Norris, leapt on the ensuing rebound and settled down the puck before wiring home a far-side snipe to make it 2-0 at 15:26.
In the second period, the Senators added to their lead when Tyler Ennis intercepted a clearing attempt in Florida's zone before sending a pass over to Dylan Gambrell. Carrying the puck into the right circle, Gambrell then slipped a shot through Bobrovsky to make it a 3-0 contest at 6:47.
"We know we have enough talent to score some goals," Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau said. "Some nights we're going to be against a good goalie. He made some good saves. We had a lot of shots, but we didn't give up."
Behind that attitude, the Cats finally caught their break.
While on the power play, Anthony Duclair teed up a pass from Claude Giroux and blasted a blistering one-timer past Anton Forsberg to make it 3-1 at 8:55. Just over two minutes later, Patric Hornqvist followed that up with a goal of his own to cut the deficit down to 3-2 at 9:57.
Pulling their goaltender to gain a 6-on-5 advantage with time winding down in the third period, Barkov, following a clutch faceoff win from Giroux in the offensive zone, threaded a shot from the point through heavy traffic and past Forsberg to make it 3-3 with just 2:16 left in regulation.
"That's what he brings us to," Barkov said of Giroux, who was one of three important deadline acquisitions for the Panthers. "He knows all the situations, how to play them right. Faceoffs are a huge part of the game, and he's really good at them. You can trust him. You can talk about different plays when he's taking the faceoff because there's a good chance he's winning it."
In overtime, Bobrovsky and Forsberg each made three saves, with most of them being eye-popping stops. And when the Senators were sent to the power play with only 1:27 left in the extra frame, both Bobrovsky and Florida's penalty kill came up huge to get to the shootout.
Carrying that momentum into the skills competition, Bobrovsky denied all three of Ottawa's shooters, while Barkov scored the only goal the Panthers would need to lock in the 4-3 win.

"You know he's going to come up with these saves," Huberdeau said of Bobrovsky. "Tonight, he was big for us. In overtime we took a penalty, and the PK did a great job, and obviously Bob stood on his head. After that, you knew he had that confidence going into the shootout."
Facing off for the first time this season, the Panthers will close out their trek through Canada with a highly-anticipated matchup against the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday.
Four points pocketed, two more still up for grabs.
"It's our first game against them," Huberdeau said. "We're excited."
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's win in Ottawa…

1. DUKE'S BLAST

It's surprising that this shot didn't burn a hole in the net.
Getting the Panthers on the board in the second period, Duclair, who spent two seasons in Ottawa before heading to South Florida, buried a rocket of a one-timer to make it a 3-1 tilt.

"We just needed one goal to get us going," Barkov said. "Horny, huge goal for us, right away [after Duclair's goal]. We were down one goal, and then just grinded it out in the third period."
Sitting second on the Panthers with a career-high 26 goals, eight of Duclair's goals have come on the man advantage. Touching twine in each of his last two games, he's registered six goals over his last 10 contests, with five of those scores in that hot stretch coming on the power play.

2. THE GOAL STANDS

The goal only took a split second, but the review felt like an eternity.
After Forsberg reached behind his back to glove a tuck from Hornqvist, officials immediately went to look at the monitors. Roughly eight minutes later, it was then ruled a good goal after it was deemed the puck crossed the line in Forsberg's glove to make it 3-2 in the second period.

As you can see in the tweet below, the evidence was very conclusive.
Tweet from @FriedgeHNIC: This is photo sent by NHL to determine 3-2 FLA goal vs OTT legally crossed the line pic.twitter.com/KDaL9sg5fC
"I saw the monitor there a few times, and to me it was in," Brunette said. "[The review] took longer than I thought it was going to take. I guess they wanted to make sure. I didn't know it [was good] right away originally, but when I saw the overhead [angle] I kind of figured."
His 10th goal of the season, Hornqvist has now posted a double-digit goal total in nine straight seasons. He's also the 11th player on the Panthers to reach the 10-goal mark. When he was on the ice in Ottawa, Florida owned an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

3. CAPTAIN CLUTCH

The captain led the charge once again tonight.
After netting the game-tying goal in the waning minutes of regulation, Barkov beat Forsberg with his lethal backhand in the shootout to make sure the Cats would leave Ottawa with two points.

"He's a special player," Brunette said.
Pacing the Panthers with 28 goals, Barkov, who is on the cusp of the second 30-goal campaign of his career, also ranks behind only Huberdeau on the team in points (64). Earning at least one point in nine of his last 10 contests, he's notched 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in that span.
Coming up in the clutch, he's converted on three of his five attempts in the shootout this season.

4. HUBY STANDS ALONE

No player has spent more time in a Panthers sweater than No. 11.
By taking the ice for his first shift in Ottawa, Huberdeau officially skated in his 655th game with the Cats, thus breaking a tie with Stephen Weiss (2001-2013) for the most in franchise history.

"It means so much to me to be playing here for a great organization," Huberdeau said. "Obviously, this is our year this year. It's been a lot of fun. Stephen Weiss actually texted me before the game, so I thought that was pretty cool. He's obviously a great guy."
In addition to owning several single-season records, Huberdeau also sits atop the franchise's leaderboard in two other major categories, ranking first in both points (587) and assists (398).
On another level this season, his 89 points (21 goals, 68 assists) are third-most in the NHL.
"In my opinion, he's an MVP candidate this year," Brunette said. "To watch him grow in his leadership in the three years that I've been around him has been really cool to see."

5. BOB COMES UP BIG

Bobrovsky only had to make seven saves in the third period and overtime, but all of them felt like they could make-or-break the game given the difficult of each shot that he had to face.
And after standing on his head in overtime, he remained perfect in the shootout.

"He was huge for us," Barkov said. "He was making those game-savers and keeping us in the game. He gave us a chance in overtime and in the shootout he saved all three attempts."
Making his first start since March 10 due to various ailments, Bobrovsky finished with 19 saves, including five high-danger stops, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. Improving to 31-6-3, he now needs just four more wins to tie Roberto Luongo's franchise record for wins in a season.
"I could tell as the game went on that he was getting really dialed in," Brunette said. "He made a huge save [in overtime] and gave us a chance to win tonight."
At the other end of tonight's goaltending duel, Forsberg, who was tested early and often by the Panthers, stopped 46 of 49 shots.