FLORIDA PANTHERS at DALLAS STARS
MARCH 27, 2021
American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX
| FLORIDA PANTHERS | DALLAS STARS |
| 4 | 3 |
[OVERTIME]
- Aaron Ekblad scored his fifth career overtime game-winning goal as the Panthers snapped their three-game losing streak to move to 21-9-4 overall and 3-1-0 vs. DAL this season.
- Carter Verhaeghe factored on all four Florida goals (3-1-4), his first career four-point game. His three goals scored represented his second career hat trick (Jan. 7, 2020 vs. VAN) and first as a Panther.
- Verhaeghe is the third player in Panthers history to register a hat trick by scoring an even-strength, power-play, and short-handed goal. Colton Sceviour (Oct 30, 2016 at DET) and Nathan Horton (Dec 14, 2009 at NYI) are the others. Verhaeghe’s SHG was his first as a Panther, and his PPG was his first power-play point with FLA.
- Three different Cats have notched hat tricks this season: Verhaeghe, Jonathan Huberdeau (Feb. 4 vs. NSH), and Noel Acciari (March 6 at NSH).
- Verhaeghe scored his first goal 24 seconds into the first period, the fastest goal by a Panther to open a game this season. He led all FLA forwards with 24:08 TOI.
- Verhaeghe’s first two goals both came in the first period, tied for most goals in one period by a Panther this season. He now leads FLA with 15 goals this season.
- Noel Acciari produced two assists, his second multi-assist performance in his past three games. Acciari posted three shots and won 17 of his 29 faceoffs (59%).
- Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 31 of 34 DAL shots (.912 save percentage), and improved to 13-5-2 on the season. He owns a career record of 15-1-1 against DAL.
- Radko Gudas blocked five shots, the most by any Panther in a game this season.
- Keith Yandle played in his 900th consecutive NHL game. He is just the third player in NHL history to play 900 consecutive regular season games.
- Owen Tippett produced an assist, his second over his past three games.
- Jonathan Huberdeau notched his team-leading 26th assist on Ekblad’s OT-winner.
- Floridasuccessfully killed off all three DAL power play opportunities.
PANTHERS POSTGAME QUOTES – MARCH 27, 2021
Head Coach Joel Quenneville
“What a move by Ek [defenseman Aaron Ekblad], I guess you could say on both [goals]. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone score two overtime goals in the same game. That can go down as one of the better moves that we’ve seen.”
“A lot of good things happened. I thought we worked hard across the board, wasn’t a pretty game but I thought we were very effective at battling and doing what we could to get two points.”
“Outstanding game (for Carter Verhaeghe), right from the first shift. Tremendous shot on two of his goals. Can’t say enough good things about how he plays the team game, with some structure and some speed.”
Forward Carter Verhaeghe
“Everyone had to step up tonight. I had some good chemistry with Ach [forward Noel Acciari] and Duke [forward Anthony Duclair]. We played a good game and I’m lucky a couple went in for me tonight.”
“Bob [goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky] made two massive saves in overtime. He thought it was over and then dialed in again and made two massive saves, it was awesome to see Ek [defenseman Aaron Ekblad] get another one.”
“He’s [forward Noel Acciari] awesome. He’s a heart-and-soul guy for our team, he’s a big part of our team. He does everything team-first. He blocks shots, he makes great plays, he’s hard on the puck, plays on the penalty kill, plays power play, he’s so important to us.”
Defenseman Aaron Ekblad
“It hurt (to have his first OT-winner called back for offsides), but right after Ulfy [Assistant Coach Ulf Samuelsson] put me right back out and gave me the opportunity. Bob [goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky] made a huge blocker save. That’s the only reason we were able to do that and go win that game.”
“We talked about just taking it one period at a time, and we did tonight. Didn’t get flustered up, down or tied, so it was a great game all around. We’re really happy to snap that (losing) streak.”
“Huge step up game for (Carter) Verhaeghe. He’s having a huge year, the fact that he’s able to get those three goals and lift us to this win is amazing.”
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky
“We have depth in our lineup and other guys stepped up and did a great job. It was a huge game for us, it was an important two points. It’s a big win.”
“They (Florida’s penalty killers) had good sticks, protecting in front of the net. They did a good job forcing (Dallas) to make mistakes. Good retrievals and smart puck management.”
“Hags [forward Carter Verhaeghe] stepped up and played a great game for us. We’re all happy for him, and he scored all kinds of goals…We were shorthanded without Barky [forward Aleksander Barkov] and Horny [forward Patric Hornqvist] but other guys stepped up and did a great job and played a strong, solid game.”
