In Sunrise, the visiting Dallas Stars posted two goals in the second period before the Florida Panthers responded with three goals in the final frame for a 3-2 win on Thursday night.
Frank Vatrano picked up the game-winner at 16:50 of the third period.
“It was one of the games all year where I thought we were being outplayed, and then all of a sudden we captured a little life a couple of shifts in the third, and then scoring that goal, all of a sudden the bench lit up,” Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville said. “Great response all the way through it. It was a big win for us and one of those that came out of nowhere. We feel fortunate and don’t expect to win many like that.”
Sergei Bobrovsky made 37 saves to get the win for the Panthers.
“I thought he was excellent,” Quenneville said. “I’d call that a goalie win. Every period he kept us in there. He gave us a chance where maybe something could happen in the third and we found a way, but Bob was the reason why.”
Joe Pavelski and Jamie Benn were the Stars’ strikers for the 2-0 lead.
“We had them in a good spot and were playing good hockey and we let them back,” Pavelski said. “As we sat back and the game went on they found their momentum and we didn’t answer. A tough loss.”
Aleksander Barkov and Anton Stralman got the Panthers even with their goals in the third period.
“The third period, especially the last 10 minutes, we were all over them, played in their zone almost all the time,” Barkov said. “Obviously it was just a matter of time. We were going to score. We finally got the lucky bounce. We didn’t get any lucky bounces last game or this game, but finally got it and it got us going.”
Dallas dropped to 6-5-4.
“We never got that third goal,” Stars head coach Rick Bowness said. “We had plenty of chances but didn’t get it. We just sat back. That’s why they’re in first place and we’re battling to get back in it.”
The Panthers improved to 13-4-2.
“Bounce-back games are always huge,” Barkov said. “You can’t lose two in a row. We actually mentioned that before the game. It’s going to get us far if we’re going to keep playing like this, playing extra hard, kind of [ticked-off] hockey after we lose. Obviously you don’t want to lose at all, but it gives an extra boost that we’ve got to come out even harder because that wasn’t enough last game. That’s what we did today, especially in the third period.”
Jake Oettinger made 32 saves in the loss.
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