5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers Net 9 in Rout of Rival Lightning

SUNRISE, Fla. -"We want 10! We want 10! We want 10!"
When you hear a chant like that, you know it's been a good night.
Getting a head start on celebrating New Year's Eve, the Panthers provided more than enough fireworks during a 9-3 drubbing of the intrastate rival Lightning at FLA Live Arena on Thursday.

"We always like to have the crowd behind us," said Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau, who matched a career-high with five points in the lopsided win. "It's been unreal for us the whole season. We love to play here.
"Whenever we win, it's so much fun. We just want to keep it going. We've played this team a lot in the past and this season. It's always the same mindset that we've got to beat these guys, and it's always fun when we do."
Revving up the home crowd right off the bat, Anthony Duclair broke the ice for the Panthers in spectacular fashion when he slipped behind a pair of defenders, collected a pass from Brandon Montour and then beat Maxime Lagace with a nifty deke to make it 1-0 at 2:10 of the first period.
Making sure to collect the puck afterwards, the goal was the 100th of his NHL career.
On the power play later in the period, Huberdeau swept in a rebound from the left side of the net after Aleksander Barkov rang a shot off the crossbar on the power play to extend the lead to 2-0 at 11:22. Less than three minutes after that, Frank Vatrano then increased Florida's advantage to 3-0 when he followed his own rebound and rifled a laser of a shot right past Legace at 14:21.
Getting the Lightning on the board, Zach Bogosian snuck a shot past Spencer Knight, who turned aside 18 of 19 shots during the opening 20 minutes of action, to make it 3-1 at 15:31.
"I thought we pushed the pace pretty good," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "We took advantage of some opportunities there. I think it was a little bit of a weird game. I didn't love our first [period], but I thought as the game went on we were a little more solid all around."
Trading goals early in the second period, Eetu Luostarinen potted a rebound after a shot from Radko Gudas went off the post to put the Panthers up 4-1 at 3:02. Answering for the Lightning soon after, Steven Stamkos buried his team-leading 15th goal of the season to make it 4-2 6:19.
Crashing the net after Carter Verhaeghe's initial shot was stopped, Maxim Mamin, committing a little Max-on-Max crime, poked the puck past Legace to make it 5-2 at 17:26. Then, with just 37 seconds left on the clock, Anton Lundell lifted a rebound into the top of the cage to make it 6-2.
Following the second intermission, Hugo Alnefelt replaced Lagace in Tampa Bay's net.
"It was great," Lundell said of the offensive outburst. "We just wanted to keep going like how we finished yesterday. Right away from the start we wanted to show the way. It's always good games against the Lightning. They're a really good team. It's a hard battle. We were prepared."
As the game rolled on, that preparation produced even more points for the Panthers.
On the power play in the third period, Brayden Point briefly stopped the bleeding for the Bolts when he finished off a smooth passing sequence with a goal at 4:27 to make it 6-3. But just 11 seconds after that, Duclair, shrugging off a defenseman with ease, scored again to make it 7-3.
Keeping their foot firmly on the gas, the Panthers then went up 8-3 when Aaron Ekblad blasted a stunning spin-o-rama feed from Huberdeau past Alnefelt at 6:46. On the penalty kill a bit later, Barkov then capped of the team's scoring spree with a shorthanded tally to make it 9-3 at 12:31.
In net, Knight made 39 saves, including 11 high-danger stops, while Lagace and Alnefelt, who are filling in while Andrei Vasilevskiy is in COVID protocols, combined to stop 28 of 37 shots.

Improving to 20-7-4 on the season, the Panthers now trail the Lightning by only two points for first place in the Atlantic Division with a game in hand. After ringing in the New Year on Friday, they'll return to the ice to host the Canadiens in a matinee matchup at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday.
"We're playing some good hockey, but we know we can be better," Barkov said.
A scary statement for the rest of the league.
Here are five takeaways from Thursday's win in Sunrise…

1. DUKE DOES IT ALL

It's been quite the 24 hours for Duclair.
After netting the game-winning goal against the Rangers on Wednesday, the speedy forward opened the scoring tonight when, after slipping behind a pair of defenders, he took a pass from Montour, barreled down on Legace and then lit the lamp to make it 1-0 early in the first period. Toying with the goaltender, Duclair's stickwork on the goal is worthy of multiple viewings.

"He's unreal," Barkov said. "He's a great, great hockey player. He's a great guy and doing really good things on the ice. He's always dangerous. He's always there to score a goal, to get a breakaway, to make nice plays. I'm really happy for him and happy we have him on our side."
Not done there, Duclair added another goal to his personal highlight reel in the third period when he threw a defender off his back before burying another goal to put the Cats up 7-3.
When asked about scoring the 100th and 101st goals of his career, Duclair, who was named the first star of the game, said he had some extra motivation to reach that nice milestone tonight.

"I've got my mom in town," he smiled. "It's her birthday today, so I wanted to do it for her."
Of Duclair's team-high 12 goals, 10 have been scored on home ice.

2. HIGH FIVE FOR HUBY

There's been three five-point games in the NHL this season.
Two of them belong to Huberdeau. Filling up the scoresheet tonight, the gifted playmaker amassed one goal and four assists, including unleashing his patented spin-o-rama to set up Ekblad for a goal in the third period. If you watch SportsCenter tomorrow morning, don't be surprised if this play shows up.

"Probably unnecessary, but I was just confident I guess," Huberdeau chuckled when asked about his eye-popping pass. "Ekky had a heck of a shot on that. I like doing the spin-o-rama pass, but sometimes I've just got to relax and keep it simple."
Whether they're simple or spectacular, Huberdeau continues to make plays that result in points for the Panthers. Leading the team and tied for fourth in the NHL in scoring with 38 points (11 goals, 27 assists), he's now racked up 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) over his last 10 games.
Elite when it comes to dishing the biscuit, his 27 assists are tied for second-most in the league.
"My vision has always been my strength my whole career," Huberdeau said. "Obviously you get better and better every year. I try to work on vision stuff and warming up before games. I'm not the fastest guy out there, but I think I use the toolbox I have -- my vision and my passing skills."
In 41 career games against Tampa Bay, Huberdeau has posted 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists).

3. VATRANO NETS ONE

After being scratched on Wednesday, Vatrano was sharp in his return to the lineup tonight.
With the puck seemingly on a string, the feisty forward pulled off the NHL's equivalent of an off-the-backboard dunk when he gathered his own rebound after his initial shot went right off the crossbar before scoring from the slot to extend Florida's advantage to 3-0 in the opening period.

"I felt really good that he got one," Brunette said. "I was teasing him. The way things have been going for him, when it hit the crossbar, I was watching it live and I just thought, 'Poor Frankie, there's no way it's going to come back.' But then it landed on his stick and he scored. A little bit of karma. When you do the right things and you treat the game with respect, you get rewarded."
Finishing with a goal and an assist against the Lightning, Vatrano also chipped in three hits and one blocked shot over 15:21 of ice time. When he was deployed at 5-on-5, the Panthers led 15-11 in shot attempts, 10-6 in shots on goal and 7-6 in scoring chances, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
"You've always got to be ready to play," said Vatrano, who's netted seven goals this season.

4. PILING IT ON

Taking a break from being the "Comeback Cats, the Panthers pulled away in the second period.
Firing off 17 shots on goal throughout the middle 20 minutes of action, Luostarinen, Mamin and Lundell all found the back of the net to make it a 6-2 game heading into the second intermission.

"I thought we came out ready to go," Brunette said. "We got a little sloppy at different times, but there was a little bit of swagger. Some of the plays that were being made were pretty special, especially on home-ice here. It felt good. We've got another big game Saturday."
Looking at the goals, all three came on secondary chances. As the games get more important, Brunette believes getting to those dirty areas will be key.
"I think it's important for our group," he said. "I think at times we can get a little cute. Obviously we have a lot of skill up front and on the back end, but we can get a little cutesy at times where we don't put pucks on net. … It was good to see us being hungry around the net tonight."

Key parts of the enviable scoring depth that's helped Florida flourish on offense, Luostarinen's goal was his eighth of the campaign, Lundell's was his seventh and Mamin's was his fourth.
Overall, the Panthers led the Lightning 12-7 in scoring chances during the second period.

5. SPREADING IT OUT

Speaking of scoring, a lot of players got in on the action tonight.
Combining to net the second-most goals in a single game in franchise history, Florida's nine goals came from eight different players, with Duclair being the only one to pot a pair.
Additionally, 15 different players recorded at least one point.

"We have a lot of depth," Huberdeau said. "We're all healthy, and it shows."
When was the last time the Panthers scored at least nine goals in single game?
Well, you have to go all the way back to Nov. 26, 1997, a 10-5 win over the Bruins.
"If you score nine goals in a game, you're probably going to win," Barkov grinned.

BONUS: PLAY THE HITS

The Panthers matched their season-high with 40 hits against the Lightning.
Dishing out a team-high five hits, Gudas ranks second in the NHL in that category with 126.