Classic Rewind: Barnes Scores Twice as Cats Top Pens in Game 3 of '96 ECF

The Florida Panthers weren't about to get pushed around in their own barn.

In a heated matchup highlighted by a lot of rubber rats and fisticuffs, the Panthers showed fans at Miami Arena the time of their lives, scoring three goals in the third period to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 and claim a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final on May 24, 1996.

"Some people say our style is boring," Panthers coach Doug MacLean cheekily told reporters after the team's thoroughly dominating performance, which came in front of a sellout crowd of 14,703 rodent-wielding patrons. "Well, if that's true, boredom is beautiful from where I stand."

As part of their "Panthers Rewind" series, FOX Sports Florida re-aired the win on Sunday.

Opening up an offensive night for the ages, Ray Sheppard kicked off the scoring for the Cats shortly after puck drop when he blasted a slap shot from just inside the blue line straight past goaltender Tom Barrasso and into the back of the net to make it 1-0 at 1:46 of the first period.

Florida fired off 61 shots against Pittsburgh, which remains a franchise record for the playoffs.

With 3:58 remaining in the first period, Bryan Smolinski answered for the Penguins when he beat goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck to make it a 1-1 game. Then, just 27 seconds into the second period, Petr Nedved followed suit and lit the lamp to give Pittsburgh the lead at 2-1.

Looking no worse for wear despite losing a few teeth to a high-stick in the first period, Radek Dvorak evened things up for Florida with a goal that made it 2-2 at 3:51 of the second period. A 19-year-old rookie at the time, Dvorak was the 15th player on the team to score a playoff goal.

In the third period, the Panthers pieced together one of their best periods of the postseason.

Just 55 seconds after the puck dropped in the final frame, Stu Barnes, who was also bloodied earlier in the game, scored on the power play to give Florida a 3-2 advantage. Soon after that, Barnes was back at it again, jabbing the puck through Barrasso to push the lead to 4-2 at 4:55.

At 7:37, Martin Straka scored on a re-direction to make it 5-2 and lock in the win for the Cats. Putting up five goals on the Penguins for the second time in three games, the Panthers were on top of their game at both sides of the ice throughout the night. Over the final 20 minutes of play, they fired off 20 shots on goal before the Penguins even managed to get one on Vanbiesbrouck.

And for the second time in the series, Vanbiesbrouck and the Panthers held Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, who had combined for 131 goals during the regular season, off of the scoresheet.

Following the final buzzer, tempers boiled over for both clubs. There had been 24 penalties assessed in the game -- more than Game 1 and Game 2 combined. So, as the rats hurtled toward the ice, a few brawls broke out, including one between Vanbiesbrouck and Barrasso.

Once again, the Panthers didn't back down.

"Our determination came through big-time," Vanbiesbrouck, who stopped 26 of 28 shots in Game 3, told reporters after the tilt. "That's one of the best third periods I've seen in a while."

What happened next? You'll have to tune in to find out!

The broadcast schedule for "Panthers Rewinds" is as follows:

April 30, 7 PM: Game 6 of the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals vs. Pittsburgh.

May 3, 7:30 PM:Game 7 of the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals vs. Pittsburgh.

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