Vatrano scores on power play in OT, Panthers defeat Stars

Frank Vatrano scored a power-play goal at 3:09 of overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 victory against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Tuesday.

Vatrano scored on a one-timer from the right face-off circle with six seconds left on Jamie Benn's tripping penalty. It was the third overtime goal of the season for Vatrano, who also has eight third-period goals among his 14.
"I love scoring goals, and it's nice to be put in some of those opportunities sometimes," Vatrano said. "It's just the luck of the draw with me just putting them in at the right times right now. I'll take them when I can get them."
Aleksander Barkov and Radko Gudas scored for the Panthers (27-12-4), who ended a three-game losing streak. Chris Driedger made 24 saves.
Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist, Benn had two assists, and Anton Khudobin made 28 saves for the Stars (15-14-12).
Florida is 8-4 in games decided beyond regulation this season; Dallas is 2-12.
"It's just kind of snowballed on us," Stars forward Joe Pavelski said. "We have lost a few in overtime and we haven't been good in the shootouts. We have to find the formula."

Florida is in a three-way tie for first with the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning in the eight-team Discover Central Division. Dallas is in sixth place, seven points behind the fourth-place Nashville Predators with three games in hand. The top four teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"We were going into this game knowing that we needed to win this one," Gudas said. "Losing three, it's never fun, but I know we had this in us. We didn't get bounces the last few games, and I thought we weren't ourselves, and I thought today was a step in the right direction."
Barkov gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 11:50 of the first period after taking a pass from Markus Nutivaara in front of the net. It was Barkov's 10th goal in his past 12 games.
Robertson tied it 1-1 at 12:42 with a shot in close.
Gudas gave Florida a 2-1 lead at 2:45 of the second period when his slap shot from the point went off the stick of Dallas forward Rhett Gardner near the right face-off circle.
It was the first goal in 42 games for Gudas, who signed with the Panthers as an unrestricted free agent in the offseason. His previous goal was Jan. 7, 2020, for the Washington Capitals.
"Glad I finally got one through," Gudas said. "Got a little lucky there, but I'm really happy it went through. It was a pretty exciting time for me to see all the guys being pumped for me. That was pretty good."

Pavelski tied it 2-2 at 8:26 of the third period with a rebound after Robertson's deflected shot went off the post.
The Stars had several quality scoring chances in the third period, including a puck that deflected off the skate of Panthers defenseman Anton Stralman and was headed for the open net before Driedger reached back and stopped it with his stick just before it completely crossed the goal line with 9:49 remaining.
"It was all over," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "Crossbars, posts, open nets. The kid in the net was great. It's as simple as that. The puck is going in, and he gets his stick on it. The chances we created in the third, that game should have been over in regulation. Simple as that."
NOTES:Dallas forward Roope Hintz was a late scratch. … Gudas ended a streak of four consecutive Florida goals scored by Barkov, who fell one short of the team record set by Pavel Bure in 2000-01. … Vatrano joined Olli Jokinen and Mike Hoffman as the only Florida players with three overtime goals in a season. … Dallas defenseman Mark Pysyk played forward, something he did multiple times last season while with Florida. … Panthers forward Anthony Duclair had an assist in 18:28 after missing six games with a shoulder injury. … Florida forward Jonathan Huberdeau had an assist, his first point in six games. … Defenseman Sami Vatanen had two shots on goal, two hits and two blocked shots in 14:40 in his Stars debut after being claimed off waivers from the New Jersey Devils on Monday. …Robertson and his brother, Nick Robertson of the Toronto Maple Leafs, are Filipino Americans. With Nick playing for Toronto against the Calgary Flames, they became the first set of brothers of Asian descent to play an NHL game on the same night since Paul Kariya of the Anaheim Ducks and Steven Kariya of the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 21, 2001.