5 TAKEAWAYS: Blues 5, Panthers 4 (OT)

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers feel they left an extra point on the table after watching a 4-1 lead slip away in an eventual 5-4 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues at FLA Live Arena on Saturday.
With the point, Florida improved to 10-8-3 on the season.
"Even if we're up a few goals, you can't give the other team an opportunity to get back in the game, and that's what we did," Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas said. "It cost us the second point today. We've got to learn from these mistakes, but we've also got to turn the page. We have another game in two days."
For a quick recap of the game, click
HERE
.
To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. EKBLAD SCORES AGAIN

Aaron Ekblad is on fire.
Finding the back of the twine for the third straight game, the star defenseman broke the ice against the Blues when he settled down a sliding puck before beating Thomas Greiss with a shot from the bottom of the left circle to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead 1:20 into the first period.

After netting the 100th goal of his career on Wednesday, he's now just one point shy of 300.
Looking no worse for wear after missing nearly a month with a lower-body injury suffered in the third game of the season, Ekblad has been producing at a point-per-game pace since his return. In seven games since getting back in the lineup, he's registered three goals and four assists.
In that time, he's also averaged a team-high 24:37 of ice time per game.

2. A GUD GAME

Radko Gudas had multiple highlights in the first period.
The first came when he wired home a shot from just below the blue line to double the lead for the Panthers and make it 2-0 at 2:58. Not too long after that, he brought fans to their feet again when he executed a picture-perfect hip check and upended Brayden Schenn along the boards.
In addition to his goal, Gudas led Florida in both hits (5) and blocked shots (4).

"I'm feeling engaged every game," said Gudas, who also posted a strong 61.54 CF% and 70.79 xGF% against the Blues at 5-on-5, per NaturalStatTrick.com. "It's obviously nice when they go in and I get to contribute, but I'd rather take the two points today than a goal."
Off to a great start this season, Gudas has logged six points (two goals, four assists) while also leading the Panthers in hits (82) and blocked shots (40).

3. SWAGGY STRIKES

Carter Verhaeghe showed off his wheels on this goal.
After taking a pass from Sam Reinhart, the speedy sniper flew past a pair of defenders before ripping a wrist shot over Greiss' glove on a breakaway to make it 3-0 at 8:47 of the first period.
With the goal, Verhaeghe increased his team-leading total to 12.

"I think we came out strong," Verhaeghe said of the first period in which Florida led 3-1 in goals. "We had a good period. We put a lot of pucks on net. We were moving. It starts with our feet."
Fresh off setting career-highs in goals (24), assists (31) and points (55), Verhaeghe has flown out of the gate this season with 19 points (12 goals, seven assists) over the first 21 contests.
As is stands now, his 10 goals at even strength are tied for the second-most in the NHL.

4. LUNDY'S SHORTY

The Panthers have their first shorthanded goal of the season.
Lighting the lamp with a split-second left on the penalty kill, Anton Lundell extended the lead for the Panthers when he took a pass from Reinhart on a 2-on-1 break and roofed a shot past Greiss to make it 4-1 at 12:50.
Of Lundell's three goals this season, two have been assisted by Reinhart.

"It feels like we've just been trying to play better together," Lundell said of his chemistry with Reinhart. "We will get chances. We just need to trust that we're going to get a couple goals from all the chances we create."
Picking up right where he left off last season, Lundell continues to be a fixture on the penalty kill for the Panthers. Playing big minutes, his 50:17 of shorthanded ice time is second to only Eetu Luostarinen's 51:28 among Florida's forwards. In that time, he's won 54.84% of his faceoffs.

5. THE THIRD PERIOD

The Panthers looked to be in total control until just past the midway point of the third period.
Even after Ryan O'Reilly trimmed the Blues' deficit down to 4-2 at 8:16 thanks to a flukey bounce behind Florida's net, the Panthers were still feeling confident and looked to be in control.
But as the period rolled along, St. Louis began to pick up steam.
"You've got to skate and you've got to make plays," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "You can't sit on anything. Even to the 10-minute mark, we're still fine. They've got to push, but we'd handled it well to that point. It seemed when it went 4-2 we came off another 2-3 feet."
After Jordan Kyrou, who would go on to net the game-winning goal in overtime, made it 4-3 at 13:43, Vladimir Tarasenko quickly followed suit with the game-tying goal to make it 4-4 at 16:11.
Leading 55-29 in shot attempts after two periods, Florida was out-attempted 25-7 in the third.
"I thought we played a very good two periods," Gudas said. "It's a pretty good team on the other side, too. They got some bounces and good breaks. I think our mistakes showed up in a big way today. It's just unfortunate the way the game went. I really thought we had a good start, good second. I thought in the third it got away from us."

BONUS: BARKOV UPDATE

Aleksander Barkov missed the game against the Blues due to a non-COVID illness.
When asked about the Panthers star captain, Maurice said that the team is hopeful he'll feel better on Sunday and will be able to travel to Canada. But if he's unable to fly out with the team, the plan is for him to join the Panthers at some point on their five-game road trip once he feels better.
"It's not something we can have around the players," Maurice said. "It's not COVID. He's got a bit of a sickness, and we just can't have it around the players. Doctor's best advice was that he didn't come to the rink today, and we'll see how he feels tomorrow."
Stay tuned to FloridaPanthers.com for updates on Barkov's status.