Aaron Ekblad scores game-winner in OT — twice! — and Panthers snap 3-game losing streak
The depression of the Florida Panthers’ longest losing streak of the season hung even harder on Aaron Ekblad when he skated back onto the ice for the final 47.8 seconds of overtime. His apparent game-winning goal was no more, wiped away because he had just barely been offsides. He had less than a minute to redeem himself or face the stress of a shootout.
The Dallas Stars raced on the attack first and Sergei Bobrovsky made two game-saving stops. The second, a diving kick save with his right pad, let the Panthers charge in the other direction and, of course, give Ekblad a chance at redemption. With 9.3 seconds to go, he delivered the game-winning goal for a 4-3 victory — for real, this time.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen somebody score two overtime goals in the same game,” coach Joel Quenneville said, “so that can go down as one of the better moves that we’ve seen.”
The defenseman dashed to the front of the net and gathered a pass from All-Star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau as the final seconds ticked away. He deked to his right and shifted the puck back to his left, flipping a backhand goal over Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin to snap Florida’s season-worst three-game losing streak in Dallas.
The most frustrating week of the Panthers’ season nearly ended with another devastating result before Ekblad finally lifted the them back into the win column despite another spotty effort.
“It’s a big deal,” Ekblad said. “There’s like a depression when you go through these things. Three games doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a lot in this league and it’s really important, in terms of seeding and positioning, for us to win.”
Florida, which was playing without two of its top three forwards, managed just 25 shots and needed a hat trick from forward Carter Verhaeghe just to get to overtime in front of 4,209 at the American Airlines Center.
Verhaeghe, who scored 13 points as a rookie last year with the Tampa Bay Lightning, now has 27 and leads the Panthers (21-9-4) with 15 goals. On Saturday, he scored at even-strength in the opening minute, on the power play with 3:00 left in the first period and on the penalty kill late in the second.
While most of his success this year has come while playing with Aleksander Barkov, Verhaeghe’s best game yet came with the star center sidelined.
On Tuesday, Florida scratched Barkov during warm-ups ahead of a game against the Chicago Blackhawks. The forward is dealing with a lower-body injury and Quenneville said it’s “doubtful” he plays at all this weekend. On Thursday, the Panthers lost their second straight without Barkov and star right wing Patric Hornqvist went down with an undisclosed injury. He’ll be out for about a week, Quenneville said. Florida desperately needed a secondary contributor to step up.
Verhaeghe did so in less than 30 seconds.
“Everyone had to step up tonight,” Verhaeghe said.
Quenneville moved Noel Acciari into Barkov’s spot at center on the top line and the defensive-minded grinder gave the grouping a different identity in between Verhaeghe and winger Anthony Duclair.
He started by blocking a shot and turned it into a transition opportunity. The forward fed a cross-ice pass to Verhaeghe on the left side of the rink and he beat Khudobin just 24 seconds into the game to give Florida a 1-0 lead.
The Stars (11-11-9) answered back with two goals in the period to take a 2-1 lead before Verhaeghe scored on a power play to tie the game at 2-2 at the end of the first. Again, Acciari chipped in an assist.
With two important power-play contributors out, Acciari found a spot on the Panthers’ second unit. He came on to the ice for the last 27 seconds of the power play and rushed to the net after right wing Frank Vatrano shot from outside. He poked at a loose puck and jarred it away from Khudobin, and Verhaeghe pounced to score his second and tie the game at 2-2. After the period, he headed into the dressing room to get six or seven stitches above his left eye after his helmet cut into his eyebrow.
At the end of the second period, Verhaeghe pushed Florida ahead again. The Panthers were trying to kill another penalty and Verhaeghe was the lone forward forechecking the Stars. He perched himself at the blue line and waited for Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen to get careless with the puck. He snatched away possession, skated into open space and sniped a go-ahead goal into the top right corner of the net.
“We were trying to put as many shots as we could on them,” Verhaeghe said. “I was just happy it went in.”
Florida, though, coughed up the lead again with 17 minutes remaining. The third period became about survival, as the Panthers managed to put just four shots on net in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Bobrovsky kept them afloat, making 31 saves on 34 shots, and finally Ekblad was able to take advantage of more open ice. He learned his lesson when the first goal got called back. He made sure his final attempt would count.
“I guess,” Verhaeghe said, “Ek made up for himself.”
This story was originally published March 27, 2021 at 1:21 PM.
