5 Takeaways: Huberdeau's Heroics Lift Panthers to OT Win in Carolina

Joel Quenneville had one word to describe Jonathan Huberdeau's performance tonight.
"Outstanding."
After dishing out one of the best passes you'll ever see to set up a goal earlier in the game, Huberdeau went on to score the game-winning goal in overtime to send the Panthers into first place in the Central Division with a 4-3 win over the Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Wednesday.

"We're feeling really good," Huberdeau said. "It's a lot more fun when you win. That's what we're doing. We're playing as a team. Everybody is supporting one another. It makes it fun. We've just got to keep going. We've got two more games in Detroit. Let's finish the road trip the right way."
After playing to a draw for the majority of the first period, the Hurricanes struck twice in rapid succession. After Jordan Staal split the defense and beat goaltender Chris Driedger to make it 1-0 at 18:28, Sebastian Aho scored off a re-direct just 22 seconds later to make it 2-0 at 18:50.
"Being down 2-0, it was a big response by us," Huberdeau said of Florida's adjustments after the opening 20 minutes. "After the first period, we just came back in the room, we didn't panic, and we came back to our structure... It was a big team win and a huge two points for us tonight."
With the Panthers sent to the power play in the second period, Huberdeau managed to cut the deficit in half when he took a pass from Keith Yandle, dashed up the left side of the ice and then lasered a shot over goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic's glove and into the net to make it 2-1 at 10:52.
Looking to tie things up in the third period, Huberdeau turned into a human highlight reel.
Flying into the offensive zone, Florida's leading scorer skated into the center of the right circle before spinning around and sending a no-look, tape-to-tape pass to Alex Wennberg, who then finished off the eye-popping play by beating Nedeljkovic to make it 2-2 just 3:11 into the period.
"The pass was the highlight for me," Quenneville said of Huberdeau's big night. "I said to him, 'Wow, it's been a long time since I've a play like that.' He goes, 'What about Kaner [Patrick Kane]? I said, 'Well, I don't know, but it's been a while since I've seen something that special.'"
Netting the first goal of his NHL career, Juho Lammikko gave the Panthers their first lead of the night when he took a pass from Ryan Lomberg and sent a puck on net that somehow squeaked through Nedeljkovic's pads and across the goal line to make it a 3-2 game at 12:06 of the third.
Answering right back for the Hurricanes, former Panther Vincent Trocheck then beat Driedger on the power play to get the game knotted once again at 3-3 with 6:21 remaining in regulation.
After Driedger made an outstanding stop on Nino Niederreiter late in the game to help get the Panthers to overtime, Aleksander Barkov intercepted a pass in the defensive zone and set up Huberdeau for a masterful breakaway goal 2:29 into the extra frame to lock in the 4-3 victory.
Driedger stopped 32 of 35 shots, while Nedeljkovic made 33 saves.
Off to their best start in franchise history, the red-hot Panthers (10-2-2) now hold a one-point lead over both the Lightning (10-3-1) and Hurricanes (10-3-1) for the top spot in the division.
"A really good start to our season," Quenneville said. "A lot of good things have happened here. I thought across the board tonight, sticking with it down 2-0 when it looked like it completely got away with us late in the first, we hung in there and chipped our way back into the game."
Here are five takeaways from Wednesday's overtime win in Raleigh…

1. SNIPE CITY

No one was stopping this shot.
Catching the defense sleeping -- heck, even the cameraman was caught off guard -- Huberdeau took a pass from Yandle at Carolina's blue line, skated into the left circle and ripped a wrist shot into the cage on the man advantage to trim Florida's deficit to 2-1 at 10:15 of the second period.

"He's a skilled, smart player," Lammikko said of Huberdeau. "It's really nice to watch."
Operating at a 29.3% success rate, the Panthers currently own the sixth-ranked power play in the league. Finding success on a consistent basis with the extra attacker, they have scored at least one goal on the man advantage in eight of 14 games to kick off their 2020-21 campaign.
Of course, even after netting such a beautiful goal, Huberdeau's night was also far from over.

2. NO PEEKING

This is one of the prettiest passes you'll ever see.
Facing down a defender, Huberdeau skated into the center of the right circle, spun around and then sent a no-look pass straight across the ice right onto Wennberg's stick for an easy tap-in goal from in front to pull the Panthers even and make it a 2-2 game at 3:11 of the third period.

"It just had to be at the right moment," Huberdeau said of the incredible play, which hopefully should crack SportsCenter's Top-10 list later on tonight. "I saw Wenny coming in and I just had to do a little spin-o-rama before. It hit his tape, so it was fortunate."
In finishing off the stellar sequence, Wennberg continued his own personal hot streak. Finding the back of the net in four of the last six games, the 26-year-old forward has quickly upped his point total to seven (four goals, three assists) in his first 13 games as a member of the Panthers.

3. LAMMI-GOAL

Lammikko's first NHL goal came in a key moment.
With the game tied 2-2 in the third period, the 25-year-old forward fired a shot on net that just slipped through a small opening in the goaltender's pads to put Florida on top 3-2 at 12:06.

"I think we had a good neutral zone forecheck," Lammikko said of the pressure that ended up leading to the timely goal. "I just got the puck, threw it to the net and somehow it went through."
Back with the Panthers after spending parts of two seasons overseas (he played in both Liiga and the KHL), Lammikko has suited up in eight of 14 games this season. And with Noel Acciari set to miss a few more games with an injury, he'll continue to be counted on in the bottom-six.
Originally taken by Florida in the third round (65th overall) of the 2014 NHL draft, Lammikko has posted seven points (one goal, six assists) over 48 games since making his NHL debut in 2018.
"Nice to see Lammy score his first NHL goal," Quenneville said.

4. OVERTIME THRILLER

If anyone was going to score the winner tonight, you knew it was going to be Huberdeau.
Riding high after a fantastic 60 minutes, the rising superstar took a pass from Barkov and flew up the ice on a breakaway. After making a quick move as he barreled in on Nedeljkovic, he then tucked the puck just around the goaltender's pads to lift Florida to a 4-3 win at 2:29 of overtime.

"Huby had a special night tonight, a couple highlight films," Quenneville said.
Making a dent in the scoresheet in nine of 14 games this season, Huberdeau boasts a team-leading 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists). Over his last five games, the 27-year-old winger has produced at better than an outstanding pace, tallying three goals and five assists in that span.

5. SAY NO TO NINO

If not for this save by Driedger, the Panthers likely wouldn't have made it to overtime.
With time ticking away late in regulation, the 26-year-old goaltender extended his right pad to an absurd length in order to deny a rebound attempt by Niederreiter and keep the contest tied 3-3.

"He's been really good every game he's played," Huberdeau said of Driedger. "Like you said, a big save at the end. I think we needed that point, going to OT after our effort. After that, we just had to get the two points. He made some good save. He comes out of his net really well."
Turning aside 32 of 35 shots - including six from high-danger areas on the ice, according to NaturalStatTrick.com - Driedger improved to 5-1-1 with an exceptional .924 save percentage.
"He was big," Quenneville said of Driedger. "I thought he handled the puck well. He had a lot of composure when he did come out of his net to make plays. He stopped their forecheck and made some direct plays to our defense. He seemed big. He seemed on top of the crease. He handled some tight situations very well. That save there at the end was remarkable."

BONUS: FORSLING RETURNS

After missing nine games with an upper-body injury, Gustav Forsling returned to action tonight.
Claimed by the Panthers off waivers from the Hurricanes last month, Forsling appeared in 57 games with Carolina's AHL affiliate in 2019-20, recording 26 points. In his first game against his former organization, he tallied three shots on goal and two blocked shots over 17:23 of ice time.
"I feel good," Forsling said. "Good to be out there again. It's been a long three weeks."