FLORIDA PANTHERS at COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
MARCH 11, 2021
Nationwide Arena – Columbus, OH
| FLORIDA PANTHERS | COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS |
| 5 | 4 |
(OVERTIME)
- Florida completed a comeback after trailing by at least three goals in the third period for the second time in the past two seasons (Nov. 12, 2019 at BOS, 5-4 W [Shootout]), and the third time in franchise history.
- Florida has won four games after trailing by multiple goals, at any point, which trails only Winnipeg (5) for the most among all NHL teams this season.
- The Panthers earned eight of 10 points on their five-game road trip (4-1-0). They improved to 17-5-4 and 10-2-1 on the road.
- FLA’s 10th win in their 13th road game of the season marked the fewest games the club has needed to reach 10 road wins (previously: 10-5-0, 1995-96). The Panthers’ .808 road win percentage leads the NHL.
- In his 300th NHL game, Frank Vatrano completed the Panthers comeback with his second overtime game-winning goal of the season, the third OT-winner of his career.
- Vatrano is the seventh player in Panthers history to score multiple overtime goals in the same season (Aleksander Barkov, Pavel Bure, Valeri Bure, Mike Hoffman, Nathan Horton, Olli Jokinen).
- Patric Hornqvist scored a goal for the second consecutive game. He leads FLA with 11 goals this season.
- Ryan Lomberg scored his first NHL goal to start the Panthers comeback at 6:34 of the third period.
- Aaron Ekblad notched his 151st NHL assist on Vatrano’s OT winner, surpassing Jay Bouwmeester for third-most assists by a Panthers defenseman in franchise history. He has produced two assists (0-2-2) in his past two games.
- Jonathan Huberdeau notched two assists, extending his assist/point streak to five games (2-6-8). He leads FLA with 10 multi-point games and 32 points (10-22-32).
- Huberdeau led FLA with three hits and five shots (tied – Vatrano).
- Owen Tippet tallied a goal for the second consecutive game.
- Aleksander Barkov posted his ninth goal of the season.
- MacKenzie Weegar recorded an assist, extending his point streak to three games (1-3-4), and registered a team-high four blocked shots.
- Mason Marchment posted an assist. He has amassed six points (2-4-6) in his past eight games.
- Carter Verhaeghe notched an assist, extending his point streak to two games (1-1-2).
- Gustav Forsling produced an assist for the second consecutive game (0-2-2).
- Sergei Bobrovsky improved to 10-2-2, his fourth consecutive win. He has not lost in regulation in his past six starts (5-0-1).
- Over Florida’s five-game road trip, Aaron Ekblad (3-5-8) and Jonathan Huberdeau (2-6-8) recorded a team-leading eight points.
- 14 different Panthers registered at least one point.
PANTHERS POSTGAME QUOTES – MARCH 11, 2021
Head Coach Joel Quenneville
“It was a good period. Even at 4-1 we started to get some action, big goal to make it 4-2 all of a sudden. [Forward Ryan Lomberg] gets his first one out of the air…we got a little momentum there at 4-2 and had some zone time, so good looks. The power play goal was huge, pretty as well.”
“It was a game that you don’t expect to win at that stage of the game, but I like the resiliency and the excitement on the bench. Everybody stuck with it, multiple guys were contributing.”
“Huby’s [forward Jonathan Huberdeau] play selection when he has (the puck) on his stick is as good as anybody in the game. Good finish, good deception, and a great shot by Barky [forward Aleksander Barkov].”
Forward Ryan Lomberg
“It just shows how much confidence we have in ourselves. We didn’t stop, we were down a few there but we knew that if we stayed with it we’d slowly chip away. It was a great team win for sure.”
“Cookie [forward Noel Acciari] made a nice play off the pad there, and (scoring his first NHL goal) it’s something I’ll remember for a while.”
“I was pretty excited, I think the guys were as well. It’s a good feeling to be able to contribute. Obviously the two points is what we play for so to be able to get that along with the goal is something special.”
Forward Frank Vatrano
“We knew we had the momentum going into overtime. Hags [forward Carter Verhaeghe] had a great chance before, and I would’ve lost some sleep if I didn’t bury that second one.”
“We’re in playoff spot right now but every game is against a divisional opponent, so every point matters. We want to be in a good spot here with some games in hand so we’ve got win the games we need to win and we’re doing that right now.”
“We’ve tested ourselves against the best in the League and we’re right there with them, we’re getting the wins that we’re supposed to and we’re competing against the top teams in the League night in and night out…We’ve just got to keep this thing going.”
Forward Owen Tippett
“You can see when you get one (goal), there’s a little energy on the bench, then another one comes and you have all the momentum and you just have to keep playing the same way.”
“Once we got that first one, everyone started to move their feet a little bit more and everyone started to use each other. The energy just went up on the bench and we were able to come back.”
“(Winning) makes the trip home a lot more fun. When you go on road trips like this, it’s a chance to come together as a group and when you take four out of five (games) it makes it that much better.”
