FLORIDA PANTHERS vs. WASHINGTON CAPITALS
NOVEMBER 30, 2021
FLA Live Arena – Sunrise, Fla.
| FLORIDA PANTHERS | WASHINGTON CAPITALS |
| 5 | 4 |
PANTHERS POSTGAME QUOTES
Forward Sam Reinhart
On scoring with 14.3 seconds on the clock:
“It feels great, to be able to complete that comeback in regulation for that crowd tonight is a big one for us.”
On tonight’s comeback win:
“You know, we didn’t play all that bad to be down 4-1 in my opinion, when they have the players they do over there, they are going to make you pay. It was a couple of mistakes. I really liked our composure. Obviously, we were able to feed off the crowd in the third.”
Forward Ryan Lomberg
On the team’s energy:
“Yeah, I think for majority of the game we played pretty well. They were just the ones who got the bounces. So, you know, it was good on our group to stay with it and just stick to the game plan, out work them and we knew that eventually the tides would turn, and we would get the bounces.”
On success in third period and completing the come back:
“Yeah, I think so. I think there’s always a belief in that room that we are never out of the fight and as soon as that first domino fell, we just stepped our foot on the gas and here we are.”
Interim Head Coach Andrew Brunette
On tonight’s comeback win:
“Yeah, it was impressive. It shows the resilience of the group. I thought different stretches we played pretty well, but I thought the third period desperation level kind of went up about three or four notches. It wasn’t one guy it was all four lines, all six D rolling, and it was fun to watch.”
On the dependability of the fourth line:
“It’s huge for our team—for a coach—if you have a fourth line you can trust against anybody at any different time; and they bring different pieces, all three of them. I rely on [Lomberg, Luostarinen, and Hornqvist] a lot in big moments and big times.”
CATS STATS
- Sam Reinhart scored a power-play goal with 15 seconds remaining in the third period to cap a four-goal third period comeback for the Panthers.
- Florida erased a three-goal, third-period deficit to win for the fourth time in club history (March 11, 2021 at CBJ, Nov. 12, 2019 at BOS, Feb. 10, 2009 vs. TOR). Florida joined Tampa Bay (Oct. 14 at DET) as the second team to erase a three-goal, third-period deficit to win this season.
- The Cats out-shot Washington 51-27, including 27-2 in the third period, marking the fourth time in club history the Panthers record 27+ shots in a period (record: 29, Feb. 22, 2021, 2nd period). Three of the four instances have come against Washington.
- Reinhart’s tally was his first power-play marker as a Panther.
- Ryan Lomberg produced two points (1-1-2) for the first time in his career.
- Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad each notched three assists, including one each on Reinhart’s game-winning goal. Tonight marked the second time Ekblad has recorded three helpers in a game in his career.
- Joe Thornton tallied his second goal of the season for his 1,533rd career point, tying Mark Recchi for 12th-most points in NHL history.
- Eetu Luostarinen scored his first career shorthanded goal and added an assist for his second career multi-point performance.
- Sam Bennett scored his eighth goal of the campaign. Since joining the Panthers last season, he has produced at a point-per-game pace in the regular season (14-14-28 in 28GP).
- MacKenzie Weegar notched an assist, extending his assist streak to three games (0-3-3). Weegar also logged six takeaways, tied for the most takeaways in a single game by any NHL skater in 2021-22.
- Florida handed Washington goaltender Ilya Samsonov his first regulation loss of the season.
LOOKING AHEAD
Next up for the Cats — The Panthers are OFF tomorrow, Dec. 1.
