5 TAKEAWAYS: Ekblad lifts Panthers to OT win, series sweep of Hurricanes

RALEIGH, NC -Not even a two-week break can slow down the Cats.
Getting their legs back underneath them in a hurry following their mid-season pause, Aaron Ekblad collected a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau and buried a breakaway just 16 seconds into overtime to lead the Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Wednesday.

"Lots of fun," Ekblad said. "Excited to play those games down the stretch."
In a first period highlighted by physicality, the Hurricanes headed into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead after Teuvo Teravainen scored from a sharp angle with 45.7 seconds left on the clock.
Prior to that moment, the highlight of the opening 20 minutes had been an impressive penalty kill for the Panthers in which - thanks in part to a few huge saves from Sergei Bobrovsky - they completely shut down a dangerous 5-on-3 advantage for the Hurricanes for a full two minutes.
"Bob made some big saves," Ekblad said.
Putting on a show for the national audience watching on TNT, the Panthers then flipped the script in the second period thanks to a pair of highlight-reel plays at opposite ends of the ice.
First, it was an outstanding defensive play from Lucas Carlsson, who saved what looked like a surefire goal from the Hurricanes when he dove into the crease and batted a shot away with his stick not once, but twice to briefly silence the rowdy home crowd and keep the deficit at 1-0.
Feeding off that momentum, the Panthers pulled even soon after when Aleksander Barkov, doing what he does best, took a pass from Huberdeau, made an absurd behind-the-back deke, and then backhanded a shot right past Frederik Andersen to make it 1-1 at 13:09.
Despite the Panthers controlling play in the third period, the Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead when a long shot from Tony DeAngelo clipped off a defender's skate and past Bobrovsky at 3:13. After that, the Panthers kept on pushing until, with their goaltender pulled for the extra attacker, Sam Reinhart buried a rebound with 49 seconds left in regulation to make it 2-2 and force overtime.
"It's games like this that just help you get more comfortable for more situations like this down the road," Reinhart said of the hard-fought nature of the contest. "For us, especially after the All-Star break, teams tighten up and games get that much harder to win."
Just 16 seconds into the extra frame, Ekblad flew down the ice and corralled a tape-to-tape saucer pass from Huberdeau to set himself up on a breakaway. With no one left to beat but the goalie, he then made a few quick moves before scoring off his backhand to lock in the 3-2 win.
Improving to 33-10-5, the Panthers have moved back into first place in the Atlantic Division.
"For us coming off that break, it was a grinding game," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "We were ready to grind and do the little things to find a way. We probably didn't have our best game with the puck, but I thought we did a lot of the right things. We defended in packs, we kept them outside, and we had energy. I thought we got better as the game went on."
Sweeping the three-game season series, Florida finished a perfect 3-0-0 against Carolina.
Here are five takeaways from Wednesday's win in Raleigh…

1. PRIME TIME

With tonight's game being on TNT, a lot of viewers likely got their first look at Barkov.
You know what they say about first impressions, right?
Setting social media ablaze, the Panthers captain pulled an incredible move out of his seemingly bottomless bag of tricks when he pulled the puck behind his back to maneuver around a defender before sending a shot straight through Andersen to make it a 1-1 game.

"He never ceases to amaze," Brunette said. "He's such an underrated, talented player. It was kind of fun that it was on national TV. Hopefully the world got to see what he brings to us every night and shine a light on how skilled he is and how hard he competes."
Taking over sole possession of the goal-scoring lead on the Panthers with his 22nd of the season, Barkov has done all of that damage in just 35 games. Also earning the secondary assist on Ekblad's game-winner, he's now to up 42 points (22 goals, 22 assists) this year.

2. BACK IN FIRST

Even after a long break, the points keep coming for Huberdeau.
With a pair of assists in tonight's win, the all-star winger now sits at 66 points (17 goals, 49 assists) on the season. Not only good enough to lead the team, that lofty number also places him tied for first in the league in scoring with Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid of the Oilers.
Additionally, Huberdeau's 49 assists are the most in the NHL.
"Great pass," Ekblad said of the dish that set him free in overtime.
The NHL's reigning "Player of the Month," Huberdeau, who should be firmly in the conversation for the Hart Trophy, has now amassed 33 points (seven goals, 26 assists) in his last 18 games.

3. REINO'S GOAL

Not to be lost in Huberdeau's point spree, Reinhart has been on a nice run himself.
With his game-tying goal late in the third period against the Hurricanes, the versatile forward has now produced 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) over his last 15 games to claim second place on Florida's scoring leaderboard behind Huberdeau with 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists).

On his goal tonight, he said he was just looking for some good real estate on the ice.
"Just trying to get to that soft area with the extra man out there," Reinhart said.
With the Panthers holding the Hurricanes to just eight shots over the final two periods - including just two in the third - Reinhart said the Cats can really build off tonight's win.
"It's a lot of fun playing games like this when both teams are competing," he said. "I think it was a really good way to start the second half of the season for us after a long break. Give them credit, they didn't give us much room out there. It was kind of a tight-checking affair. I think we got our legs under us in the third and we had some looks. It was a very enjoyable game to play."

4. STICK SAVE

The best save from tonight's game didn't come from a goaltender.
Likely earning himself a prime spot on SportsCenter's top plays of the night, Carlsson helped keep Florida's deficit at just one goal early in the second period against the Hurricanes when he lunged into the crease and deftly whacked not one, but two shot attempts in rapid succession.
Since words can't really do the play justice, check out the clip in the video below.

"It was an unbelievable save," Brunette said. "It was Bob-like. A big play at the time."
Acquired from the Blackhawks last season, Carlsson has played himself into a fairly regular role on the blue line for the Panthers. Typically paired with Brandon Montour, the 24-year-old Swede has already posted new career-highs in goals (2), assists (6), points (8) and games played (26).

5. OVERTIME HEROICS

Ekblad has a knack for burying one-timers with his booming slap shot.
But his breakaway winner in overtime? Well, that's unfamiliar territory.

"It was kind of still in the air as it went by me, so I just tried to reach out to catch it," Ekblad said of Huberdeau's stunning stretch pass to set him loose. "I thought it was going to bounce, but it didn't. Then I went in on the breakaway, and I truly have absolutely no idea what to do on breakaways, so I just slowed down and tried to make a move and I think it just trickled in."
Doing it all against the Hurricanes, Ekblad finished tonight's tilt with a goal, an assist, four shots, two hits and one takeaway while seeing a team-high 27:52 of ice time. Leading Florida's D-men in scoring, he's already posted 43 points (11 goals, 32 assists) in 47 games so far this season.
At the time of this writing, those 43 points also place him sixth among all NHL blueliners.