Joel Quenneville landed on a common refrain while his Florida Panthers scuffled through their first real losing streak of the season this week: “It doesn’t have to be pretty,” the coach came to often say as he diagnosed potential solutions for the Panthers’ offense to get back on track with Aleksander Barkov and Patric Hornqvist sidelined by injuries.
Their first win since Saturday certainly qualified. Florida managed just 27 shots, but managed to win 4-3 in overtime on a game-winning goal by Aaron Ekblad with 10 seconds left in the extra period.
Forward Carter Verhaeghe lifted the Panthers through regulation with a natural hat trick in the first two period, then Florida survived in the third after it blew a 3-2 lead.
Verhaeghe scored twice in the first period and finished his natural hat trick in the second to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead. 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.
The forward, who has thrived so much in playing left wing next to star center Aleksander Barkov this year, now leads Florida with 15 goals and ranks third with 27 points. He has already more than doubled the 13-point season he had as a rookie last year with the Tampa Bay Lightning and he delivered the best game of his career without Barkov playing alongside him.
The unlikely Stanley Cup-contending Panthers first bit of adversity hit this week. Florida began the week by suffering back-to-back regulation losses for the first time this season and its season-worst losing streak stretched to three with a shutout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the Panthers scratched Barkov during warm-ups because of a lower-body injury and he’s “doubtful” to return this weekend in Texas, coach Joel Quenneville said. In the third period Thursday, star right wing Patric Hornqvist went down with an undisclosed injury and Quenneville said he’ll likely be out for about a week.
Barkov was Florida’s leading goal scorer at the time and still leads the team in points. Hornqvist ranked third in points before Verhaeghe passed him Saturday and he was the Panthers’ best net-front forward with five goals off deflections. Verhaeghe and Florida’s reoriented top line provided the offensive punch the undermanned Panthers needed.
It started from the first shift of the game. Quenneville moved forward 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. He fed a cross-ice pass to Verhaeghe on the left side of the rink and he beat Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin just 24 seconds into the game to give Florida a 1-0 lead.
The Stars 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.
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 the go-ahead goal into the top right corner of the net.
