RECAP: Panthers 4, Canadiens 3 (SO)

SUNRISE, Fla. – This is 40.

Shining bright on both sides of special teams, Sam Reinhart scored his 40^th and 41^st goals of the season to help the Florida Panthers lock down a 4-3 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday.

Improving to 40-16-4, the Panthers, who have a one-point cushion atop the Atlantic Division, are currently tied with the New York Rangers for the most wins in the NHL.

“It’s nice,” said Reinhart, who became the fourth player in franchise history to hit the 40-goal mark. “It’s felt like a long time coming. It’s nice to get back on the scoresheet and get a win."

Licking his chops every time he plays the Canadiens, Aleksander Barkov opened the scoring for the Panthers when he took a pass from Reinhart and beat Sam Montembeault with a far-side shot in transition to make it 1-0 at 7:01 of the first period.

In 34 career games against Montreal, Barkov has scored 24 goals.

Getting the game back to even a little over a minute after Barkov’s goal, Nick Suzuki, who entered tonight’s tilt with 11 goals in his previous 12 games, took a tape-to-tape stretch pass from Arber Xhekaj and beat Anthony Stolarz on a breakaway to make it 1-1 at 8:24.

After pelting Montembeault with pucks, the Panthers broke through again in the second period on the power play when Reinhart one-timed a pass from Matthew Tkachuk into the back of the cage from the slot -- a play we’ve seen many times -- to make it 2-1 at 14:08.

With the goal, Reinhart achieved the first 40-goal season of his career.

Well aware of the milestone, Tkachuk made sure to grab the puck out of the net right after.

“That’s kind of the group we have,” Reinhart said. “No surprise there.”

Following a faceoff win by Jake Evans in the offensive zone with 3.1 seconds left in the second period, 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky somehow managed to thread a shot through a sea of bodies in the slot and into the net to make it 2-2 with under a second left.

On the power play early in the third period, the Canadiens took their first lead of the night when Alex Newhook cashed in on a heavy one-timer from the left circle to make it 3-2 at 3:27.

It marked the first time since Jan. 19 that the Panthers have given up at least three goals in a game.

But, as always, they didn’t panic.

Turning defense into offense on the penalty kill, Barkov intercepted the puck in neutral zone and sent it over to Reinhart, who then carried the rubber along the right wall before cutting to the net and picking a corner from in tight for a shorthanded goal to make it 3-3 at 13:05.

Already ranking first in the NHL in power-play goals with a franchise-record 23, Reinhart, a wizard on special teams this season, is now tied for first in shorthanded goals with five.

“We feel it on the power play, too,” Reinhart said of applying lots of pressure on the PK. “A lot of the time it’s tough defending when you’re not expecting it. I think we’ve been doing a better job. We’re playing with a little more pace. That’s creating some more offense.”

Helping the game get to overtime, Dmitry Kulikov, who’s been very sound in the defensive zone all season, helped break up a 3-on-1 rush for Montreal with just over two minutes left.

Following an eventful extra frame, the game had to be settled in the shootout.

After turning aside 28 shots in regulation and overtime, Stolarz, who manned the crease for his 100^th game in the NHL, saved his biggest stop for the shootout. In the second round, he sprawled out to rob Suzuki with his glove and give the Panthers the upper hand.

“He had a nice breakaway goal on me in the first,” said Stolarz, who improved his own record to 11-5-2 with the win. “I kind of just tried to outwait him and stay as big as possible.”

With Barkov and Cole Caufield each scoring for their respective squads after that save on Suzuki, Anton Lundell skated to center ice with a chance to win the game for the Panthers.

Freezing Montembeault with a beautiful backhand-to-forehand move – a move we’ve seen Barkov use more than once in his career – Lundell scored to help the Panthers complete their thrilling comeback and cap off their homestand with a 4-3 win.

“I had a couple moves in my mind,” said Lundell, who's been oozing confidence in recent weeks. “I saw a little bit how the goalie played during the game, and that was the move that I wanted to try.”

Winning 13 of the last 15 games, Florida is currently tied for first in the NHL with 84 points.

“We knew it was not going to be easy,” Lundell said. “We had to battle every shift.”

THEY SAID IT

“It’s a huge milestone. It’s incredibly difficult. There’s very few men in the history of the game that get to the 40-goal mark. It’s a huge accomplishment. He’s earned it. Good on him.” – Paul Maurice on Sam Reinhart hitting 40 goals

“You feel it. Especially when you’re at 19, 29, 39, you feel it, for sure. We’ve been doing a lot of good things. A lot of them have come on the power play. We’ve been kind of moving around and finding the open guy. We’ve been sharing the wealth recently.” – Sam Reinhart on waiting for his 40^th goal

“It’s exciting. Who would’ve thought 25, 30 years ago that you’d be here? I’m grateful for it and at the same time not taking it for granted. Hopefully I can get another 100.” – Anthony Stolarz on reaching 100 games in the NHL

CATS STATS

- Sam Reinhart’s five shorthanded goals are one shy of Tom Fitzgerald’s single-season franchise record of six achieved during the 1995-96 campaign.

- Aleksander Barkov recorded his seventh game with at least three points this season.

- Kevin Stenlund went 6-for-9 (66.7%) in the faceoff circle.

- Anthony Stolarz made seven high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

- The Panthers led 81-55 in shot attempts.

- Florida controlled 83.87% of shot attempts when Matthew Tkachuk was deployed at 5-on-5.

- The Panthers are the fifth different team to occupy first place in the NHL since Jan. 1.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Back on the road we go!

Kicking off a three-game trip with a nationally televised divisional matchup on ABC, the Panthers will battle the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET.