FLORIDA PANTHERS at DALLAS STARS
APRIL 13, 2021
American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX
| FLORIDA PANTHERS | DALLAS STARS |
| 3 | 2 |
[OVERTIME]
- Florida snapped its three-game losing streak to defeat the Stars in overtime for the second time this season. The Panthers improved to 26-12-4 and 5-2-0 vs. DAL this season.
- Frank Vatrano scored his third overtime game-winning goal of the season, joining Olli Jokinen (4 – 2005-06, 3 – 2003-04) and Mike Hoffman (3 – 2018-19) as the only Panthers players to notch at least three OT-winners in a single season in club history.
- The goal was Vatrano’s team-leading fifth game-winning goal this season, and his fourth power-play goal of the season, tied for third-most on FLA.
- Aleksander Barkov tallied his 18th goal of the season, his second goal in his past two games and his fifth over his past five games. He led FLA forwards with 24:51 TOI.
- Radko Gudas scored his first goal as a Panther.
- Chris Driedger stopped 24 of 26 DAL shots (.923 save percentage) for his fourth win in his past five starts.
- Jonathan Huberdeau posted his team-leading 29th assist of the season.
- Anthony Duclair produced an assist in his first game back after missing six games with an upper-body injury. He has recorded three points (1-2-3) over his past three games played.
- MacKenzie Weegar led FLA with 25:17 TOI and blocked five shots, tied for the most blocked shots by a Panther in a game this season.
- Nine different Panthers recorded a point.
- FLA out-shot DAL 31-26 and successfully killed off all three DAL power-play opportunities.
PANTHERS POSTGAME QUOTES – APRIL 13, 2021
Head Coach Joel Quenneville
“A miraculous save by the thinnest of margins, and on the other side a big save on [DAL forward Joe] Pavelski as well, so he [goaltender Chris Driedger] had two huge saves there late.”
“Tonight we did a lot more harder things than we did in the last couple of games. I thought we were a lot more consistent in the effort. Driegs [goaltender Chris Driedger] has been coming up with some really good performances here and the guys are happy for him. But it was a hard-fought game for us.”
“He [forward Frank Vatrano] does have the flare. He does make some nice shots, we want to shoot a lot and Frankie’s got a great shot. He moved up on that power-play unit, so he’s getting even more of an opportunity to play and use that weapon of his. I thought he had a good game overall and I thought that line was very effective.”
Forward Frank Vatrano
“Anytime you score a goal it’s an unbelievable feeling, whether it’s a game-winner or a goal to put your team within reach. Great effort all around by the guys tonight.”
“He’s [goaltender Chris Driedger] been great for us all year. He’s definitely a guy we can rely on back there…he made a great desperation save to keep that (puck) out. That was huge for us, a turning point.”
“I love scoring goals. It’s nice to been put in some of those opportunities sometimes, it’s just luck of the draw with me putting them in at the right times right now. I’ll take them when I can get them.”
Defenseman Radko Gudas
“We were going into this game knowing that we needed to win this one…I thought today was a step in the right direction. Really happy that the guys battled all the way to the end, took us 64 minutes but we got it done and that’s the most important thing for us right now.”
“Lot of excitement, finally got one through, got a little lucky there but really happy it went through. It was a pretty exciting time for me to see all the guys being pumped for me, so that was pretty good.”
“It was important for us to play a solid game today and I thought we did that. It’s a great team on the other side and they’re pushing for a playoff spot, they gave us a lot of different looks and I thought we held our ground and we looked pretty strong in our end.”
Goaltender Chris Driedger
“Our last few games haven’t been our best but that’s a huge, gritty road win for us. We’re going to have some fresh bodies meet us in Tampa, which I think will spark the boys and get us back on track here.”
“With the schedule that we have, it’s really jam packed. We’re playing every second game but we’re still playing two games a week…It’s a lot of hockey but alternating has really been keeping us fresh. I felt great every time I’ve gone in the net and I think it’s doing our bodies some favors. It’s been really positive for both of us.”
