5 TAKEAWAYS: Barkov completes hat trick in OT as Cats win 11th straight

Only one player in Panthers history has completed a hat trick in overtime.
Aleksander Barkov … twice!
Collecting a stunning feed from Jonathan Huberdeau before beating Ilya Sorokin for his third goal of the game just 20 seconds into the extra frame, the captain helped the Panthers push their winning streak to 11 games with a 3-2 win over the Islanders at UBS Arena on Tuesday.

"That's why he's our captain," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said when asked about Barkov's outstanding performance. "He's just a great player and he shows it every night."
One win away from matching their franchise-record winning streak of 12 games from the 2015-16 campaign, the sizzling Panthers sit at 55-15-6 and own an eight-point lead over the Maple Leafs for first place in the Atlantic Division with just six games remaining in the regular season.
With tonight's win, Florida also set a franchise record for road victories in a season with 23.
"The main thing for us is to get our game ready for the playoffs," Barkov said. "We have six games [left] and obviously we want to win them all. We're tied with Colorado for first place in the league, so that means we've done something right. We just keep going, keep building and then see where we end up. We want to win every game, and we want to win the next game."
With no goals to speak of in the opening period, the Islanders broke the ice in the second when Sebastian Aho roofed a shot into the top of the cage on a delayed penalty to make it 1-0 at 4:56.
Earning a power play later in the period, the Panthers pulled even when Barkov fired a laser of a wrist shot through thick traffic and right past Sorokin, who was blinded by an outstanding screen from Sam Reinhart on top the blue paint, and into the back of the twine to make it 1-1 at 14:12.
"An unreal screen by Reino," Barkov said.
On the man advantage after a delay-of-game penalty early in the third period, the Islanders regained the lead when Jean-Gabriel Pageau beat Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 2-1 at 1:01.
With the action at 4-on-4, the Panthers got that goal back and forced overtime when Barkov, coming up in the clutch like he's done so many times this season, pounced on a loose puck in the slot and sent it into the back of the net to make it 2-2 with just 3:58 remaining in regulation.
Wasting no time in the extra frame, Huberdeau, who ranks first in the NHL in scoring with a career-high 111 points, set up Barkov for the game-winner with a slick pass just 20 seconds after the puck had dropped to lock in Florida's league-best 27th comeback win of the season.
Bobrovsky finished with 24 saves, while Sorokin made 39 of his own.
"I thought we hung in there," Brunette said. "We kind of knew going in what kind of game it was. They make you get your wins honestly. We stuck to the plan and grinded one out there. A good road win under the circumstances. This group is extremely resilient, and they want to be great."
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's win on Long Island…

1. HATS OFF

The goals keep coming for the captain.
Blowing past his previous career-high goal total of 35, Barkov scored his 35th, 36th and 37th goals of the season to earn the third hat trick of his budding career during tonight's victory.
"He reminds you with nights like tonight how great of a player he is," Brunette said. "He's had a tremendous season and if he was healthy he'd probably be right up there with Huby in that scoring race."

Doing plenty of damage on offense while cracking the scoresheet in 14 of his last 16 games, Barkov ranks second on the Panthers in scoring with 85 points (37 goals, 48 assists) -- the second-highest total of his career -- despite missing 13 games this season due to an injury.
Earning points in bunches, Barkov leads the Panthers with 29 multi-point performances.

2. SCORING RACE HEATS UP

The NHL's scoring race is going to come down to the wire.
Assisting on all three of Barkov's goals, Huberdeau increased his career-high point total to 111, which moved him one point ahead of Edmonton's Connor McDavid for the most in the league.
Of those points, 80 have been assists, which are the most-ever by a left wing in NHL history.
A model of offensive consistency, Huberdeau has earned at least one point in 21 of his last 23 games - a run that included a 12-game point streak - with 12 goals and 24 assists in that span.
If Huberdeau can fend off McDavid, he'll become the first Cat to ever lead the NHL in points.

3. LATE-GAME HEROICS

As any fan knows, a late-game deficit means nothing to the Panthers.
When Barkov beat Sorokin for his second goal with just 3:58 left in the third period, it marked the seventh time this season the "Comeback Cats" have tied a game in the final five minutes of regulation -- a feat that only the rival Lightning (8) have accomplished more times this season.

"We know how to come back," Barkov said. "We know how to handle that pressure. We know we have enough skill to score goals. It's just a matter of compete-level if you want to tie the game and score that goal. That's what we did. We pressured them until the end of the game."
Of Barkov's team-high 10 game-tying goals this season, four have come in the third period.
"It's not really a skill," Barkov said of his knack for coming up in the clutch. "There's just the compete-level of our team. Everyone wants to come back, everyone wants to be the guy who scores the goal or doesn't let the opposite team score a goal in crucial moments in the game."

4. OVERKILL IN OVERTIME

Brunette chuckled when asked about the players the Panthers can wheel out in overtime.
"There's a lot of different weapons," Brunette said. "If we don't score with that first group, we've got about three or four groups behind them that have that ability. We actually probably have five groups, if you think about it, that have that ability to make plays and win games. The depth that we have, I say it all the time how fortunate we are as a coaching staff to have that depth."

The numbers certainly back up that claim.
Tying the NHL record for most overtime wins in a season with 12, nine different Panthers have scored game-winning goals in the extra frame already this season, with Huberdeau (2), Barkov (2) and Aaron Ekblad (2) standing as the only three players that have done it more than once.
"They aspire to be great, and they're pushing themselves pretty hard," Brunette said.

5. HOMEWARD BOUND

As Steve Goldstein likes to say, "Let's go home, baby!"
After closing out their road trip, the Panthers are heading home to wrap up the home portion of their schedule beginning with a matchup against the Red Wings on Thursday. After that, they'll face tough tests against the Maple Leafs and Lightning on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Historically good in their own building, they lead the NHL in wins (32) and goals (179) at home.
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With the playoffs on the horizon and a few banners still up for grabs, these games will be big.
"I think we're heading in the right direction," Barkov said. "We just need to keep building. There are still a few things we need to clean up, and we're going to do that."