Panthers rally, defeat Ducks in OT for eighth straight victory

SUNRISE, Fla. --The Florida Panthers won their eighth straight game when Jonathan Huberdeau scored at 3:41 of overtime for a 3-2 victory against the Anaheim Ducks at FLA Live Arena on Tuesday.

Huberdeau scored on his own rebound after John Gibson stopped him on a breakaway for his 52nd save, a Ducks record.
"We never get discouraged," Huberdeau said. "We know it's going to happen. We put up 55 shots, at some point it's going to go in. We stuck with it. That's the kind of team we are."

Anthony Duclair scored two goals for the Panthers (52-15-6), who moved 10 points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs for first place in the Atlantic Division with nine regular-season games remaining. Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves.
The Maple Leafs lost 5-2 to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.
"We want to finish first," Huberdeau said. "Every win is important. We want to keep playing well, keep playing better heading into the playoffs."
Derek Grant had a goal and an assist for the Ducks (29-33-13), who are 2-11-4 in their past 17 games and were eliminated from playoff contention Sunday.
Gibson has lost his past 13 starts (0-10-3).
''I did my best," Gibson said. "One lucky bounce, then they make a nice play. They're a good team. When you give them a chance they're going to bury them, and they did there.''
Duclair tied the game 2-2 at 10:09 of the third period with his 30th goal of the season, a one-timer from a sharp angle off a pass from Sam Reinhart.

Duclair's previous NHL career high for goals in a season was 23 with the Ottawa Senators in 2019-20.
"Awesome feeling," Duclair said. "Credit goes to my teammates and coaching staff, putting myself in that situation playing with some really good players, elite players. It's something I'm not going to take for granted. I'm just really excited about it."
Troy Terry gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead at 7:38 of the first period with a shot from the slot after a pass from behind the net deflected off two sticks.
The Ducks were outshot 17-4 in the first.
"I challenge anybody to show me a goaltending performance like that," Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said of Gibson. "He works his tail off every day, to win hockey games, because he's so competitive. He's put up some unbelievable performances and we haven't been able to finish off for him. We've got to find a way to do it."
Duclair tied it 1-1 at 1:44 of the second period when his pass from behind the net bounced off the skate of Ducks defenseman Jamie Drysdale and slid under Gibson's left pad.

Grant gave Anaheim a 2-1 lead at 17:24 when he redirected Drysdale's pass from the right circle.
Gibson made 19 saves in the second.
"It stinks
next season. ... Gibson shared Anaheim's previous record for saves in a game of 51 with Jean-Sebastien Giguere (March 21, 2004), Jonas Hiller (Dec. 19., 2008) and Mikhail Shtalenkov (March 22, 1998). … Terry has scored in back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 27 and 29.