Panthers Dim Stars 5-4 In Rebound Offensive Shootout

Sunrise, FL – After a disappointing outcome against the New York Islanders, the Florida Panthers looked to rebound against a more unfamiliar opponent – the Western Conference runner-ups, Dallas Stars. After losing their last three games at the Amerant Bank Arena, the Cats came out hungry against a very solid opponent.

After losing in six games to the eventual champion Vegas G0lden Knights, Dallas has seen mixed results as of late, splitting a two-game series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Still, they entered this game with a 14-6-3 record – the same amount of wins as Florida.

The Cats were 7-2 following a loss this season entering the Dallas matchup, and their success continued early on. Playing clean hockey while being patient at the same time leads to great results. Florida banked on that against a sloppy Stars team, ultimately coming out on top by a score of 5-4.

“They’re built a lot like us. They’re very deep; a very veteran team,” said head coach Paul Maurice postgame. “So what we wanted to do tonight is to expect that the other team is going to have something going for them because they’re a good team. That event happened a couple of times because we’re feeling good after the first goal. They tied it, but I liked our game after that.”

The Panthers Are Caliente Again

It’s been an unfortunate trend as of late that Florida has had to climb back into games after giving up an early lead. However, that wasn’t the case here. Despite Dallas dominating the shots on goal early, the Panthers got an opportunity off a breakaway thanks to a deep pass by Niko Mikkola that was caught and snapped in by Evan Rodrigues for a lead four minutes in.

E-Rod gets right down to business! pic.twitter.com/ZIl4caRfZt

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) December 7, 2023

After this goal, the shots got a bit more even with it ultimately wrapping up tied at the end of the period. Before that, however, Dallas punched in an equalizer with seven minutes to go. But after a few minutes of penalized hockey, Sam Reinhardt continued his tear with another snap shot off a rebound for his 17th goal of the season, sending the Stars to intermission with a 2-1 deficit.

The second period moved by quickly. The Cats got one more goal 24 seconds in thanks to a clean drive by Carter Verhaeghe. He found the back of the net to give the Panthers a bit more breathing room with a 3-1 lead.

Other than that, Florida had to kill off a couple of minor penalties, but their solid power-play defense shined once more. This was the story of the Western Conference Final – Vegas played carefully, relying on Dallas’s mistakes and taking advantage. Florida’s been doing the same, taking advantage of sloppy Stars passing and missed shots.

The Stars Shine A Little Too Late

Period #3 was when things got interesting for both squads. Without a doubt, Dallas played their best hockey in this period. They got hot early, taking advantage 40 seconds in on a Florida roughing penalty. They capitalized with a power-play goal to cut the lead in half.

Four minutes later, Sergei Bobrovsky had to endure another barrage of shots and let one get by him; a wrister off a deflection found the back of Bob for an equalizer. For the first time since the first period, the game was tied.

But Florida responded with some of their best hockey of the season, dominating the shots on goal. On a shot by Reinhardt that flew to the left of the net, the puck ricocheted and trickled to the opposite side, and Aleksander Barkov happened to be there, sinking a wrister in to take back the lead.

THAT'S OUR CAPTAIN ‼️ pic.twitter.com/RVDoBF4Osx

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) December 7, 2023

Florida didn’t take their foot off the gas and continued to press when a penalty on Dallas was called. Despite having their struggles capitalizing on power-play opportunities, the Panthers got it done when Rodrigues capitalized on a pair of shots on goal. This concluded a four-point night for Rodrigues with two goals and a pair of assists – tying a career-best.

“There’s not a selfish guy in this locker room. All these guys care about is winning,” said Rodrigues postgame. “When you have that, you have guys selling out and blocking shots, staying underneath pucks, not cheating for breakaways, 2 on 1s, empty netters, whatever it may be. It’s a team in every sense of the word.”

Dallas got one more goal off a high-sticking Panthers penalty but was still forced to take out their goalie with minutes to go for an extra attacker. However, Florida’s defense held firm and kept the Stars at bay to end the game with a 5-4 final.

A Star-Studded Statistical Breakdown

For the most part, Dallas was the better team in this matchup except for when it actually mattered. They led in numerous categories, including 33 shots, 19 hits, 33 faceoffs, four power-play opportunities, and 15 blocked shots. The biggest negative for Florida in this game was the 10 minutes of penalty time they had to endure, but overall, the Cats weren’t bad with their shots either.

Reinhart, Rodrigues, and Mikkola all earned two assists each – quite a bit for a very high-scoring game. On defense, Bobrovsky was solid with 33 saves. Six came through power plays, though he did let up a few goals near the end that he usually saves.

That being said, Florida improves their record to 15-8-2, and will host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, December 8th at 7 pm before beginning a massive five-game road trip.