5 Takeaways: Duclair Scores a Pair as Panthers Beat Blackhawks

Ending their final road trip of the regular season with an exclamation point, Anthony Duclair had a pair of goals to lift the Panthers to a 5-4 win over the Blackhawks at United Center on Saturday.
"Things are clicking right now," said Duclair, who also notched an assist to finish with game-high three points. "Not only for me, but for the whole time. It's nice to see."

Lighting the lamp for the third straight game, Duclair opened the scoring tonight when he finished off a great individual effort by springing off the half-wall and ripping a wrist shot past Kevin Lankinen from the right circle to put the Panthers on top 1-0 at 7:54 of the first period.
In the second period, Nikita Gusev doubled the advantage when he showed off his silky mitts by making a couple smooth and subtle dekes before slipping the puck straight through Lankinen's five-hole and into the net to earn his first goal with the Panthers and make it a 2-0 game at 2:30.
Following an offensive-zone faceoff win on the power play, Connor Murphy finally managed to get the Blackhawks on the board when he blasted a long slap shot through traffic over Sergei Bobrovsky's glove and into the back of the cage to slice Florida's lead in half to 2-1 at 15:19.
Then, before Murphy's goal was even announced over the arena's speakers, Alex DeBrincat got the game all squared up less than a minute later when he received a pass from Adam Gaudette and ripped a shot past Bobrovsky while cruising down the slot to suddenly make it 2-2 at 16:11.
But with just 6.8 seconds remaining on clock in the middle frame, Aleksander Barkov regained the lead for the Panthers when he took a pass from Forsling, who did some sensational work to get the puck up ice in a hurry, and unloaded a shot past Lankinen to make it a 3-2 game 19:53.
"They went ahead, and then we go down and make a tremendous play," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said of the sequence. "All of the sudden we have the lead and a little excitement."
Feeding of the momentum of Barkov's timely goal, the Panthers came out flying to start the third period. After Duclair potted his second goal of the game to make it 4-2 just 28 seconds after the puck had dropped, Owen Tippett netted a shot from the slot to make it 5-2 just 31 seconds later.
"That was huge," Duclair said of the goals. "Obviously, we were up 2-0, and then they came back with two quick ones. We talked about it a little bit in the second period that we can't sleep on these guys. They've obviously got a lot of skill and talent and can hurt you whenever. Those two goals early in the period gave us a huge confidence booster moving on to end the game."
Not going down without a fight, Kirby Dach then got one goal back for the Blackhawks when he batted the puck out of the air into the net on the power play to make it a 5-3 at 12:28. Then, with a 6-on-5 advantage on the ice, Dominik Kubalik fired home a one-timer to make it 5-4 at 19:42.
Making a few big stops after that to lock in the win, Bobrovsky finished with 31 saves to improve to 18-8-2 on the season. At the other end of the ice, Lankinen stopped 37 of 42 shots he faced.
With three games left to play in the regular season, the Panthers, who finish with a 17-9-2 mark on the road, currently sit at 34-14-5 on the season. Sitting second in the Central Division with 73 points, they currently trail the Hurricanes, who have two games in hand, by two points for first.
"Home or away, we've been playing the same way game in, game out," Quenneville said of the team's success. "We give ourselves a chance, and everyone is contributing on a game-to-game basis. I think we got wins in every building this year. … All year long, it's been pretty consistent."
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's win in the Windy City…

1. DEUCES FOR DUCLAIR

Duclair is playing his best hockey at the perfect time.
With a defender on his back as he zoomed around Chicago's net, the 25-year-old forward used a few quick moves to sneak away along the end boards before skating into the right circle and sniping a pinpoint shot past Lankinen to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 7:54 of the first period.

"He's playing well," Quenneville said of Duclair. "He's got some speed and made a couple pretty plays there. I thought that line played good. … The Duke there, it was one of those nights where he had the puck a lot in some interesting places."
Earning a look of amazement from Barkov later in the game, Duclair set off the red light once against when he patiently outwaited Lankinen before slipping the puck around the goaltender's outstretched pad and across the goal line to make it 4-2 just 28 seconds into the third period.

Using his otherworldly wheels to generate a ton of offense lately, Duclair has tallied 17 points (six goals, 10 assists) over his last 13 games. And dating back to March 28, the Panthers have outscored the opposition 16-2 when he's been on the ice, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
"I'm just sticking with it," said Duclair, who has recorded 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 40 games this season. "I didn't change anything since the beginning of the season, to be honest. The puck is just finding me. We're making a little bit more plays. Obviously, chemistry has been a factor with the new additions we've had coming in."

2. GUSEV GETS ONE

The goose is officially loose.
Grabbing the puck after Ryan Lomberg helped keep it in the zone, Gusev cut toward the right side of the net, made a quick deke, pulled the rubber to his backhand and then slipped a shot right through Lankinen's five-hole to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead at 2:30 of the second period.

Suiting up with the Panthers in five games since he signed with the team as a free agent after his contract was bought out by the Devils, Gusev has accumulated four points (one goal, three assists) in nine games thus far, with all but one of those points coming while at even-strength.
Playing a very big role in the possession game tonight, Florida led 25-7 in shot attempts when Gusev was deployed at 5-on-5 against the Blackhawks, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

3. BARKOV KEEPS ROLLING

The captain came up in the clutch on this one.
With the final seconds of the second period ticking away, Barkov collected a cross-ice pass from Forsling, who had turned on the jets and jumped up in the rush, and rifled a shot into the back of the net to quickly swing momentum back in Florida's favor and make it a 3-2 contest at 19:53.

When asked about Forsling's assist on the play, Barkov said he's earned a new nickname.
"Bobby Orrsling," the Panthers captain said, cracking a big smile. "You don't need to say anything else about it. He's doing it all. He's playing unreal defense, getting the puck in the offensive zone. Those kind of plays he can make, it's unbelievable."
Terrorizing opposing goaltenders to the tune of 17 goals over his last 22 games, Barkov now ranks among the league's leaders in that category. At the time of this writing, his 25 goals not only pace the Panthers, but also place him in a tie with DeBrincat for the sixth-most in the NHL.
Barkov also sits second on the Cats in scoring with 54 points (25 goals, 24 assists).
"I just play my own game," Barkov said. "I'm playing with really good teammates and linemates, and the whole team game is making me able to play that way, both ways. … That's what it's all about, a good team game. Obviously, I've been working on my shot, too. I don't know if that helps, but it should help. Getting great passes from linemates, that helps, too."

4. TIPPETT TOUCHES TWINE

Tippett has certainly looked comfortable skating on the second line.
Finding some chemistry with his new linemates in a short period of time, the 22-year-old rookie forward teed up a pass from Sam Bennett, who dished out two assists tonight, and one-timed a shot into the cage from the slot to put the Panthers up 5-2 just 59 seconds into the third period.

Picking up three points (two goals, one assists) in his last three games, Tippett is now up to 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 42 games. Since moving up into the top-six, he's also seen his ice time increase to an average of just over 14 minutes per game in that three-game stretch.

5. ROAD WARRIORS

The Panthers found plenty of success outside of Sunrise this season.
Wrapping up the road portion of their regular-season schedule with tonight's win, the Cats saw their record away from home finish at a shiny 17-9-2. As it stands now, those 17 wins are the most in the Central Division, and also tied with Toronto and Washington for the most in the NHL.
In terms of individual numbers, Jonathan Huberdeau led the Panthers in assists (22) and points (32) on the road, while Barkov racked up the most goals (12). Between the pipes, Bobrovsky owned a record of 15-9-5, while Chris Driedger went 12-6-4 and Spencer Knight went 2-0-0.
When asked about the team's success on the road, Barkov couldn't point to just one thing.
"I guess we just like to be on the road with each other," Barkov said. "Being a good road team in this league is really tough. I think we did a pretty good job getting ready for the games. Everything was set up for us really well at the hotels and at the rinks, too. We could prepare well, and that's what we did. We just tried to play the same hockey that we did at home, and it paid off."