RECAP: Panthers 4, Stars 3

DALLAS – Never count out the Comeback Cats.

Clawing their way back from a 3-0 deficit, the Florida Panthers scored three goals in the third period to claim a 4-3 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

Taking down the top team in the Central Division and improving to 45-17-4, the Panthers, who sit atop the NHL’s overall standings with 94 points, have won 18 of their last 21 games.

“They’re a great team over there,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said of the Stars, who they went 2-0-0 against this season. “They’re definitely a powerhouse in the West. They have a lot of great players and play a great team game. You’ve got to give them credit, they dominated us most of the night. And you have to give us credit, we found a way in the end.”

Not letting a 2-on-0 rush go to waste, the Stars opened the scoring when Joe Pavelski beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a shot from the slot to make it 1-0 at 3:53 of the first period. Moments later, Bobrovsky flashed leather to rob Logan Stankoven on what looked like a surefire goal.

Tested throughout the first period, Bobrovsky stopped 13 of 14 shots in the opening 20 minutes.

Doubling the lead for the Stars in the second period, Jason Robertson, who entered the game as the team’s leading scorer with 65 points, followed up on a shot from Pavelski and fired the rebound past Bobrovsky from the right side of the cage to make it 2-0 at 7:48.

Just 25 seconds later, Wyatt Johnston tipped in a shot to make it 3-0 at 8:11.

Getting the Panthers on the board, the Panthers – as they’ve done so many times this season – turned to Sam Reinhart on the power play. Teeing up a one-timer from his usual spot in the slot, he fired a shot that went off a defender and in to make it 3-1 at 12:52.

Reinhart’s 26 power-play goals are 11 more than the next-highest player in the NHL.

“It stopped the bleeding,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “You go into the third period down three [goals] and it’s quite a bit tougher. The dreaded 3-1 lead, you know you’re just one shot away from changing the mood in the room and the tenor of the game.”

Adding another clip to his highlight reel, Bobrovsky came up in the clutch in the early goings of the third period when he lunged to his right to bat away a deflection from Matt Duchene.

That was one of 12 high-danger saves for the two-time Vezina Trophy winner, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

“Even though it was 3-0, it could’ve easily been 8-0,” Tkachuk said of Bobrovsky’s early heroics. “It actually could’ve been. He did a great job of keep us in it. We told him to shut the door in the third period and we’d find a way to win, and we did.”

Striking again on man advantage, Carter Verhaeghe, showing off his all-world wrister, fired a laser of a shot from the high slot that caught a piece of Aleksander Barkov and sailed past Jake Oettinger to trim Florida’s deficit down to 3-2 at 11:09.

The goal was initially credited to Verhaeghe, but later changed to Barkov.

Celebrating his 600^th game in the NHL, Bennett marked the occasion with a big goal.

Digging his skates into the ice just outside the crease, he tipped a shot from Tkachuk past Oettinger to bring the Panthers all the way back to even and make it 3-3 at the 14-minute mark. Just 38 seconds after that, Barkov cashed in on the power play once again to make it 4-3 at 14:38.

Never in doubt, right?

Shutting the door from there, the Panthers held on to overcome a multi-goal deficit in the third period and win a game in regulation for just the 12^th time in franchise history.

And while the two points are nice, the confidence gained is far more valuable.

“It wasn’t about winning the game,” Maurice said. “The comeback’s great and players get to enjoy it, but to be able to not have anything going for two periods and then get to playing hard and the way we need to play, that’s the important thing to carry with you.”

THEY SAID IT

“Even though it wasn’t our game tonight, we really stuck with it. Bobby (Sergei Bobrovsky) made some unreal saves at key moments in the game and kept us in it. A real character win to come back.” – Gustav Forsling

“He (Sam Bennett) plays hard every single night and gives 100%. He can do it all. He can run over guys and he can score big goals. You saw it today.” – Gustav Forsling

“Some growth in our power play, and you saw that tonight.” – Paul Maurice

“He (Kyle Okposo) is just a smart, cagy veteran. He made a lot of good plays. I like what he says on the bench. He’s very aware of what’s going on. He could tell we weren’t going right, so he kept his game very simple.” – Paul Maurice

CATS STATS

- Sam Reinhart’s 31 special-teams goals are the seventh most in a season in NHL history.

- Matthew Tkachuk recorded his 15^th multi-assist game of the campaign.

- Florida overcame a three-goal deficit to win a game for the first time since April 5, 2022.

- Aleksander Barkov tallied his 31^st multi-goal game, tied for the most in franchise history.

- Anton Lundell skated in the 200^th game of his NHL career.

- Ryan Lomberg logged a team-high six hits.

- Kevin Stenlund blocked a team-high four shots.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The games aren’t getting any easier.

Wrapping up their two-game road trip, the Panthers will visit the Carolina Hurricanes (39-20-6) at PNC Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.

The official watch party will be at CJ Blacks in Davie.

For more information, visit FloridaPanthers.com/CatsOnTap.