SUNRISE, Fla. --Aleksander Barkov seemed to be on the ice constantly in the third period.
The Florida Panthers center was winning face-offs. He was playing with different linemates and clicking with them. He was scoring his fifth goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to get the Panthers to within one of the Vegas Golden Knights. And he was on the ice as Florida tried in vain to get the tying goal to force overtime for a second consecutive game.
Barkov doing everything in his power: It's what a captain does.
"Such a driver, you know," Florida coach Paul Maurice said of Barkov after a 3-2 loss in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final at FLA Live Arena on Saturday.
"He's quietly been so good for us because it's not always the overtime winners that draw attention. You love to see those guys elevate their game for their teammates. Big goal to get us back into a fighting chance. All the face-offs and all the things that he does for us, he's been a great."
The Panthers trail the Golden Knights 3-1 in the best-of-7 series. They will try to stay alive in Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, CBC, SN, TVAS).
Barkov finished with a game-high six shots on goal, won 15 of 24 face-offs and played 20:23, including 8:50 in the third. The Panthers needed him to be his best, especially in that period, which they began trailing 3-1. They were also without forward Matthew Tkachuk, their leading playoff scorer (24 points; 11 goals, 13 assists), who didn't take a shift for 10:41 in the third because of an undisclosed injury.
"He's a horse. That's what we need from our big players," Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour said of Barkov, who had the assist on the former's goal at 16:09 of the second period.
"Obviously he's shown that his whole career. No doubt he's going to step up and make plays and help this team move forward, and [it's] just nothing new from him. He plays hard, he's the best player in the world for a reason and we need him to keep going like that."
Barkov finished with a goal and an assist Saturday after not having a point in the first three games of the series.
"He's been great," Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky said of Barkov. "He's our captain, he's leading us and I thought the rest of the guys competed hard, you know? They fight, they compete. It was a good hockey game. Obviously [we] want to be on the other side in those kinds of games, but it is what it is, so we move forward."
The center started the game with left wing Nick Cousins and Anthony Duclair, but when the Panthers fell behind 3-0 on William Karlsson's goal at 11:04 of the second, they started mixing lines. Barkov then played with Anton Lundell, also normally a center, and right wing Sam Reinhart, with Lundell getting the secondary assist on Barkov's goal 3:50 into the third.
"We've played before together," Barkov said. "We played a lot this season, so we know each other. Everyone thinks about the game the same way, moving the puck and moving the feet and just working hard. I know we got some looks."
Barkov was doing his best to get the Panthers to overtime. They came up short, but he believes they can force Game 6.
"Obviously we didn't want the result, but we had a good push back and all we have to do is take that into the next game and play like that the whole game," he said. "I know it's tough against any team in this league to come back from 3-0, but we almost did. So, take the good things and move on."
