5 TAKEAWAYS: Forsling scores in OT to cap off epic comeback in New Jersey

LL Cool J said it best.
"Don't call it a comeback."
Showing why they're called the "Comeback Cats" once again, the Panthers erased a four-goal deficit in the third period to stun the Devils in an exhilarating 7-6 overtime win at Prudential Center on Saturday.

After captain Aleksander Barkov scored a pair of goals with the goaltender pulled during the final five minutes of regulation to tie the game, Gustav Forsling wired home the game-winner 1:45 into overtime.
"We've been doing that all year," Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour said. "We've been battling back. Even if we're down, the game's not over until the 60 minutes is done. That was a big one for us.
"We all believe in each other in that room no matter what the score is. We don't want something like [this game] to happen again, but it is what it is. We came back and all the guys are fired up."
On the cusp of clinching a playoff berth, the surging Panthers, who have won 12 of their last 15 games, improved to 47-15-6 and increased their cushion atop the Atlantic Division to eight points with the win.
"I think we've shown through the course of the season that we're a very gritty team," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "We have resilience, and we have self-belief. We weren't very good for almost 50 minutes there, but I think the momentum shifted a little bit when we got one [goal]."
Like Brunette said, unfortunately a wild comeback must always follow an undesirable start.
Taking advantage of some miscues by the Panthers, the Devils jumped out to an early lead in their own barn. After Yegor Sharangovich opened the scoring to make it 1-0 at 3:25, Jack Hughes picked off a pass in the offensive zone and beat Sergei Bobrovsky to double the lead to 2-0 just 17 seconds later at 3:42.
Cutting into that deficit later in the period, Ben Chiarot fired a shot from the left circle through heavy traffic and past Andrew Hammond to get the Panthers on the board and make it a 2-1 game at 9:02.
Copy and pasting their start in the first period, the Devils netted two more goals in rapid succession to start the second. After Sharangovich found the back of the net again to make it 3-1 at the two-minute mark, Janne Kuokkanen tucked a shot around Bobrovsky after a turnover to up the lead to 4-1 at 2:45.
Flying out of the penalty box to lead a rush up the ice, Radko Gudas briefly got the Panthers back to within two of the Devils when the rebound from his initial shot took a friendly bounce off of his skate and floated straight over Hammond's head and into the back of the cage to make it 4-2 at 11:17.
Stifling that potential momentum swing before it could even get started, Sharangovich capped off his hat trick when he beat Bobrovsky on a shorthanded breakaway to push New Jersey's advantage to 5-2 at 14:44. Soon after that, Andreas Johnsson touched twine to further increase the lead to 6-2 at 16:08.
But with more offense coming from the blue line, the Panthers started to push back in the third period.
After Montour connected on a powerful one-timer from the point to trim the deficit down to 6-3 at 5:34, Forsling, taking advantage of a whole lot of chaos around the crease, pounced on a loose puck within the left circle and sent a shot over a sprawled-out Hammond to suddenly make it a 6-4 at 7:03.

Pulling their goaltender for a 6-on-5 advantage, the Panthers clawed all the way back within just one goal when Barkov zipped a shot from the right circle past Hammond to make it 6-5 at 15:23. Completing the comeback, Barkov then snapped in a one-timer with 1:24 remaining to make 6-6 and force overtime.

"He's such an instrumental piece to our group," Brunette said of Barkov. "He's our leader and our captain. I love that he's rising up to the big moments. We're going to need him going forward here."
Having already put in all that work just to get one point, why not just pick up a second?
Taking a pass from Sam Bennett before cutting back into the high slot, Forsling flicked a shot straight down the lane past Hammond just 1:45 into the extra frame to lock in the 7-6 win for the Panthers.
Coming into the game for Bobrovsky to start the third period, rookie Spencer Knight turned aside all six shots he faced in his relief appearance, while Hammond gave up seven goals on 41 shots for the Devils.
With little time to celebrate, the Panthers will close out their back-to-back in Buffalo on Sunday.
"Coming back and winning like that doesn't happen too often," Montour said. "We didn't like our first two periods, obviously. They buried their chances. We weren't playing well. We were playing slow and made silly mistakes that cost us, but I don't think there was any doubt in the room we'd come back."
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's win in New Jersey…

1. COMEBACK CATS

The "Comeback Cats" are officially historic.
Per the folks over at NHL PR, this afternoon's win over the Devils marked the second comeback win for the Panthers when trailing by at least three goals in the third period this season.
Looking beyond the third period, it was their fourth comeback win this season when trailing by at least three goals at any point during a game, which is tied for the most in NHL history.
Florida's win also marked just the 20th time in NHL history a team has won after trailing by four goals in the third period.
"We know we can come back in any game," Barkov said.

2. CAPTAIN CLUTCH

Speaking of Barkov, Brunette believes it's time to start calling him "Mr. Clutch."
Stepping up under pressure as he always does, the captain lit the lamp twice within a span of just 3:13 in the waning minutes of the third period to make it 6-6 and set the stage for Forsling's winner in overtime.

Both goals came with the goaltender pulled and a 6-on-5 advantage for the Panthers.
"You have one choice," Barkov said. "You need to score the goal, you need to tie the game. We've been getting better at [playing 6-on-5]. We've been figuring out where we need to be and where to have the puck and when to shoot, stuff like that. We did a really good job at the end. We had a lot of guys at the net, shooters were ready to shoot, and defenseman moved the puck really well. Everything clicked."
Increasing his team-high goal total to 33, Barkov, who also ranks second on the Panthers with 70 points, has been on a scoring tear as of late, racking up seven goals in his last six games, and four in his last two.
"He's such a tremendous player," Brunette said.

3. FORS THE WIN

Forsling is starting to catch fire.
After notching a goal and an assist during Thursday's win over the Blackhawks, the smooth-skating defenseman scored twice in New Jersey, including wiring home the game-winning goal in overtime.
Finding his footing since joining the Panthers, this was the first multi-goal game of his career.

"They've been helping us all year," Barkov said of Florida's defensemen. "Getting goals from them is huge for us."
With Forsling, Chiarot, Gudas and Montour all touching twine in New Jersey, the Panthers set a new franchise record for most defensemen to score goals in a game. The feat also marked just the 28th time in an NHL regular-season game that four different D-men scored for the same team in a single contest.

"No matter who you put out there, we can create offense," Montour said when asked about back end's offensive punch. "Obviously it starts in our own end, but we've got some pretty mobile D-men out there that can move the puck, get up and join the rush. We've got some pretty good shots back there, too."
Playing on the top-defensive pairing alongside MacKenzie Weegar while Aaron Ekblad recovers from a lower-body injury, Forsling has already set new career-highs in assists (24), points (29) and games played (59) this season. If he can find just one more score, he will also set a new career-high in goals with six.

4. A STRONG PUSH

Trailing 6-2 in the third period, Panthers knew they just needed one goal to get back in the game.
"The first two periods we were frustrated," Barkov said. "The game didn't go the way we wanted to. We got scored on a lot. Nothing worked for us. I think in the second intermission, it was just to forget about. We still had 20 minutes. It doesn't matter what's going to happen, just keep going and find our game."
And find it they did.
In addition to scoring four times to tie the game and force overtime, the Panthers simply dominated the Devils during the third period. Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Panthers led 20-9 in shot attempts, 7-0 in high-danger shot attempts and 14-4 in scoring chances at 5-on-5 over the final 20 minutes of regulation.
"You felt it on the bench after we made it 6-4 that anything was possible," Brunette said. "I felt we were starting to play much better than we'd played the whole game. Again, a proud group of guys that are never out of it."
Helping fuel the team's late push, Barkov said Ryan Lomberg kept the bench fired up.
"It was 6-2 and he would be yelling on the bench, 'Cats are coming! We're coming!' Barkov smiled. "Then we got one and more guys we're like, 'Let's go! Let's go!' Then we got two and then it was for sure that we were coming to come back. We have a lot of great players."

5. RECORD BOOKS

Even with 14 games left to play, this has already been a regular season for the ages in South Florida.
Improving to 47-15-6 with this afternoon's win, the Panthers have matched their franchise record for wins in a season and also hit the 100-point mark for just the second time in the history of the franchise.
With four more points, they will surpass the record 103 they finished with back in 2015-16.
"It's been a lot of fun to be a part of this group," Barkov said. "Winning helps a lot, but it's also playing fun hockey."
If the chips fall their way, the Panthers could clinch a playoff spot as early as Sunday.