‘A miraculous save’: Chris Driedger rescues Panthers with jaw-dropping save in Dallas
The Florida Panthers needed a miracle save in the third period and a 4-on-3 chance in overtime, but their three-game losing streak is finally over with a 3-2, overtime win against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
Frank Vatrano scored with 1:51 left in overtime and the Panthers snapped one of their longest losing streaks of the season after a 12-save third period by Chris Driedger helped Florida survive after blowing a pair of one-goal leads in regulation.
Vatrano’s goal was his fifth game-winner of the year and his third overtime goal of the season, and came with the Panthers just six seconds away from squandering another power play.
“He does have a flair for the big moment,” coach Joel Quenneville said.
The winger scored on a shot from the right circle with six seconds left on the power play to trigger a celebration in front of 4,199 at the American Airlines Center, and pull Florida (27-12-4) even with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes atop the Central Division.
After dropping three straight for only the second time all year, the Panthers regrouped to beat the Stars (15-14-12) in overtime despite managing only 27 shots in regulation and starting 0 of 3 on the power play in Dallas.
Driedger kept Florida alive through it all.
Florida took a 2-1 lead into the third period on goals by star center Aleksander Barkov and defenseman Radko Gudas, but the Panthers only attempted five shots in second period. The Stars were disrupting Florida’s shorthanded offense — star forward Carter Verhaeghe is “week-to-week” after sustaining an upper-body injury Saturday in Dallas — and started to control possession in the early part of the third. With 11:34 remaining, star forward Joe Pavelski beat Driedger on a rebound and tied the game at 2-2.
It was the last time the Stars beat him.
Driedger, who has mostly backed up fellow goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky this season, entered Tuesday with the second best save percentage in the NHL and made 24 saves on 26 shots. In the third period, he stopped 11 of 12 , including one with 9:49 left to save the game.
Dallas forward Jamie Benn shot from the right circle and forced a save from Driedger. The loose puck bounced off the right skate of defenseman Anton Stralman and drifted toward the goal line. With the puck more than halfway across the line, Driedger spun around, reached back into the net, and kept the puck from completely crossing by sweeping his stick and pulling the puck into his body.
It was “a miraculous save,” as Quenneville put it. Driedger said he was in pure “instinct mode.” Vatrano pointed to it as the “turning point” to get the overtime win and split a two-game series in Texas.
“That,” Gudas said, “was really something.
“We bent, but didn’t break. He was a big part of that.”
The Panthers played the first minute of overtime in their own end of the ice before Anthony Duclair drew a tripping penalty with 3:45 left. The winger, who missed the previous six games with a shoulder injury, headed to the bench with an apparent lower-body injury, but Quenneville didn’t think it was serious. Florida took advantage of its 4-on-3.
The Panthers attempted four shots on the power play, spending most of the two minutes in the offensive zone. Florida had been just 2 of 27 on the power play since defenseman Aaaron Ekblad went down with a likely season-ending injury last month and was six seconds away from wasting another one when Vatrano found a window on the right side of the ice.
With one perfectly placed shot, one of the most frustrating stretches of the Panthers’ season was over. A day after it retooled at the trade deadline to beef up for a Stanley Cup run, Florida won ugly to gain ground in the division with a pair of games coming up in Tampa later this week.
Said Quenneville: “The race is back on for us.”
This story was originally published April 13, 2021 at 7:00 PM.
