More Huberdeau heroics force OT, but Panthers lose again on road to end 4-game win streak
Thursday began with Aaron Ekblad heaping praise upon Jonathan Huberdeau, calling him a Hart Memorial Trophy candidate after he helped fuel the Florida Panthers’ perfect four-game homestand over the last two weeks. It ended with Huberdeau backing up the hype, even though it wasn’t quite enough to get the Panthers a win.
With 28.5 seconds left in regulation and an extra skater on the ice for Florida, Huberdeau came through with another MVP-type moment. After his Panthers blew three one-goal leads and slogged through a mostly lifeless third period, Huberdeau delivered a game-tying goal, sneaking a wrist shot through two defenders and past Braden Holtby to force overtime in Dallas. After a scoreless overtime, Florida ultimately fell 6-5 in a shootout, but Huberdeau’s heroics let the Panthers pick up a point on the road — a rarity for the Stanley Cup contenders this season.
Although it still has the best record in the Atlantic Division and the second best in the entire NHL, Florida (22-7-5) have now lost 9 of 10 on the road and had its four-game winning streak come to an end despite scoring at least four goals for the fifth straight game.
For two periods, the Panthers’ offense was electrifying, led by their four best players. Star center Aleksander Barkov scored twice in the first 21 minutes — once on a power play and once on a penalty kill. Star defenseman Aaron Ekblad, playing in Texas for the first time since he fractured his leg there last year, dished out three assists. Fellow defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, who has also established himself as a star in the last year, scored a game-tying goal in the second to knot the score at 4-4 and briefly silence the crowd of 17,678 at the American Airlines Center.
It was a back and forth contest, and up for grabs at the start of the third. Florida blew a 1-0 lead, then a 2-1 lead and then a 3-2 lead, and then the Stars (16-12-2) blew a 4-3 lead and finally a 5-4 lead in the last 30 seconds when Barkov won a faceoff back to Huberdeau, who passed to Ekblad, got it right back and scored the game-tying tally.
By then, the Panthers were out of gas. They barely possessed the puck in overtime and couldn’t beat Dallas goaltender Braden Holtby once in overtime. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who gave up five goals on 36 shots and had a costly giveaway in the third period, couldn’t stop either Stars attempt in the shootout and Florida fell for the first time since the season restarted last week following a brief COVID-19 pause.
Bobrovsky, who still ranks among the league’s best in goals saved above expected, made too many mistakes in the back end. When Dallas tied the game at 1-1, Bobrovsky let a puck squirt through his legs. When the Stars took a 5-4 lead in the third, Bobrovsky tried to come out of the net to clear the puck himself, only to have Dallas keep it in the offensive zone and score a go-ahead goal with the goalie caught out of position. Even in the shootout, Bobrovsky got a piece of both attempts, yet he couldn’t keep them out of the net.
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 11:41 PM.
