5 Takeaways: Vatrano's Hat Trick Lifts Panthers to 6th Straight Win

CHICAGO - The Florida Panthers wanted to be in a playoff spot entering the break.
Mission accomplished.
With a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Tuesday night, the Panthers not only find themselves right in the thick of the postseason mix heading into the NHL's annual All-Star Weekend, but also with a nice four-point cushion for third place in the Atlantic Division.

"It was something we wanted to do and accomplish," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said of his team's recent stretch, which has improved their record to 28-16-5. "Very pleased with how we're entering (the break). Let's enjoy it and then come back and think about the second half."
Although there were no goals to speak of in the first period, the building erupted into its loudest cheer of the night when Quenneville, who piloted the Blackhawks to Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013 and 2015, was honored with a moving video tribute during the contest's first television timeout.
"It was a great feeling," Quenneville said of watching the highlight reel. "It captured some special moments in the building: the enthusiasm, the excitement, the noise… The building was rocking. It felt like a different game. It had some importance to it. It was special. It was kind of like saying thank you to me, and I was saying thank you to them… It was certainly a memorable event."
In the second period, the Panthers pounced.
After Evgenii Dadonov opened the scoring with his team-leading 23rd goal of the season at 4:43, Frank Vatrano doubled the advantage with his first of three goals on the night when he beat Robin Lehner with a snipe from the center of the right circle to put the Panthers up 2-0 at 6:14.
Keeping up the pressure, Vatrano beat Lehner once again just over four minutes later, taking a pass from Aaron Ekblad and slipping a shot through the goaltender's pads to make it 3-0 at 10:04.
At 13:33, Kirby Dach got the Blackhawks on the board when he cut toward the net and lifted a silky backhand shot over Sergei Bobrovsky's blocker to trim Florida's lead down to 3-1.
But with 37 seconds left in the middle frame, Vatrano capped off his second-career hat trick by tapping in a centering pass into the cage on the power play that sent the Panthers ahead 4-1.
"Frankie had that touch in the second period," Quenneville said. "He made a couple great shots, quick shots. Frankie's been on a little bit of a role here offensively. He does other good things, definitely gives us some speed in the game. He's got some scoring touch."
Making things interesting in the third period, Drake Caggiula cut Chicago's deficit down to 4-2 with a power-play goal at 4:00. Then, with 1:15 remaining in regulation, Patrick Kane, just one game after recording his 1,000th NHL point, made it 4-3 after the Blackhawks pulled their goalie.
In the end, however, Bobrovsky stood tall to secure Florida's 13th win in its last 17 games.
"It was an important game with the points in the bank," said Bobrovsky, who is 8-3-0 over his last 11 starts. "It will help us definitely. We have to have a good break now - reset, refocus, re-energize and get ready for the most important part of the season."
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's win in Chicago…

1. CAN'T STOP, WON'T STOP

This has become the latest copy-and-paste takeaway.
Another game, another goal for the man they call "Daddy." Crashing the net after a shot from Aleksander Barkov, Dadonov outmuscled Jonathan Toews before backhanding the puck home to put the Panthers up 1-0 at 4:43 of the second period.

Finding the back of the net 11 times over his last 15 games, Dadonov has pushed his team-high goal total to 23, which is just five shy of the career-best 28 he posted in each of the previous two seasons. Of those goals, 13 are even-strength, while 10 others have come on the power play.
On a six-game point streak, the 30-year-old winger has five goals and one assist in that span.

2. A FLICK OF THE WRIST

Less than two minutes after Dadonov broke the ice, Vatrano doubled the advantage.
Taking a pass from Dominic Toninato, Vatrano, with one quick flick of the wrist, ripped a shot from the center of the right circle past Lehner to put Florida up 2-0 at 6:14 of the second period.

While there were still a few more goals to come for Vatrano, his first of the night also marked a nice achievement for Mike Hoffman. Registering the secondary assist on the play, the 30-year-old winger extended his epic point streak to a 10 games - the longest by a Panther this season.
If he can pick up a point in seven more games, Hoffman, who has five goals and eight assists during his current stretch, will match the franchise-record 17-game run he went on last season.

3. EKBLAD'S DEEP DISH

Vatrano's second goal of the night came after a sweet dish from Ekblad.
After settling the puck down in the neutral zone, Ekblad snuck a rocket of a pass through a pair of defenders right onto to the stick of Vatrano, who then sent a shot from the center of the left circle through Lehner's pads to extend the Panthers' lead to 3-0 at 10:04 of the second period.

"Ekie did a good job of keeping it on sides, and Boyler made a great play getting it up to him," Vatrano said. "For me, with the tough angle I came at, I saw five-hole and took a little bit off it."
Sitting second among Florida's defensemen in goals (T-5), assists (23) and points (28), Ekblad has been dishing the biscuit quite a bit lately. Compiling a four-game point streak, the 23-year-old rearguard has tallied four assists in that span, with all four of them being primary helpers.

4. THE VATRANO SHOW

Vatrano's biggest goal of the night also held up as the game-winner.
With 37 seconds remaining in the second period and the Panthers on the power play, the 25-year-old winger went straight to the net, where he then tipped a centering feed from Hoffman past Lehner's right pad to complete his second-career hat trick and increase the lead to 4-1.
Vatrano's only other NHL hat trick came on Dec. 18, 2015 as a member of the Boston Bruins.

"It's always nice to be rewarded like that," Vatrano said. "I've said before that scoring one goal in this league is hard enough, so obviously a hat trick is a great honor. It obviously couldn't have been done without the other guys on the ice."
Catching fire during the road trip, Vatrano will carry a five-game point streak into the break. In that span, he's recorded five goals and four assists to push his point total on the season to 27 (14 goals, 13 assists).
A spark plug or the Panthers, the team is 17-1-2 when he has a point.

5. BOBROVSKY COMES UP BIG

Despite manning the crease in Minnesota yesterday, Bobrovsky looked well-rested tonight.
In control from the moment the puck dropped, the 31-year-old stopped 32 of 35 shots against the Blackhawks. Of those saves, 15 of them originated from high-danger areas, according to NaturalStatTrick.com, including denying a re-direction from Alex DeBrincat in the third period.

Starting three games in four nights after missing two games with a lower-body injury, Bobrovsky, feeling no worse for wear, stopped 88 of 96 shots (.917 save percentage) in wins over Detroit, Minnesota and Chicago to help the Panthers finish their road trip with a perfect 3-0-0 record.
"We achieved our goal before the break," said Bobrovsky, who enters the break on a personal four-game winning streak. "We're right where we want to be. But, again, we have to focus on having a good rest and then most importantly looking ahead of us."

BONUS: WINNING FOR Q

It's no secret the Panthers wanted to win this one for Coach Q.
"Some of the guys were talking about it before the game," Jonathan Huberdeau said. "He's done so many great things here, brought this city so many championships. He's a great person also."
"You can see he had a special time here with the Blackhawks with that ovation," Vatrano said. "It was a pretty cool moment for him. It was good to finish that off with a win here."
"It's one of those games you want to win for your coach," Bobrovsky said.
Congrats, coach!