5 TAKEAWAYS: Maple Leafs 5, Panthers 4 (OT)

The Florida Panthers keep chipping away at their deficit in the standings.
Earning a point on the second half of a back-to-back, the Panthers spent a lot of time on the penalty kill in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
With both sides scratching their heads at the questionable calls that kept bringing action to a halt, the Panthers earned three power plays, while the Maple Leafs earned a whopping seven.
At 21-20-5, Florida sits just three points out of a playoff spot.
"I think we hung in there pretty good," said Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, who voiced his displeasure to reporters with how the game was called after the loss. "I'm proud of our group."
For a quick recap of the game, click
HERE
.
To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. LUNDELL'S SHORTY

Anton Lundell has a knack for scoring shorthanded goals.
Netting his second shorty of the season, Lundell followed up on a breakaway attempt from Aleksander Barkov and potted the rebound to put Florida up 2-1 at 12:34 of the first period.

"He's really smart," Barkov said. "You want to play with those types of players."
Finding a lot of success since being moved up from the third line to play alongside Barkov on the top line, Lundell, who has spent most of his career at center, has posted three points (two goals, one assist) and 19 shots on goal in five games since sliding up and over to the wing.
In 37 games this season, Lundell has produced 17 points (six goals, 11 assists).

2. MAHURA'S MEGA BLAST

Josh Mahura had all the time in the world to tee this one up.
After a shot from Radko Gudas made its way off the end boards and around the net, Mahura locked, loaded and unleashed a heavy slap shot from beyond the left circle that screamed past Matt Murray and into the back of the cage to put the Panthers up 3-2 at 18:04 of the first period.

"I just stepped out, tried to get it on net, and it went in," Mahura said.
Another savvy waiver-wire pickup for general manager Bill Zito, Mahura has been providing the Panthers with consistency in the back end all season. In 46 games, the former Ducks blueliner has registered 11 points (four goas, seven assists) and an exceptional plus/minus rating of +15.
Teaming up with Gudas to form one of the top shutdown pairings in the NHL, the Panthers have led their opponents 429-331 in shot attempts, 204-141 in scoring chances and 19-11 in goals at 5-on-5 when that dynamic duo has been on the ice together, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

3. THE DANGER ZONE

Sergei Bobrovsky added a few saves to his highlight reel in Toronto.
Of his 32 stops against the Maple Leafs, 14 were considered high-danger by the folks over at NaturalStatTrick.com. The only time he's made more high-danger saves in a game this season was when he turned aside 15 of them during a 4-3 shootout win at San Jose back on Nov. 3.
One his best sequences came in the second period when he extended his left pad to deny the Maple Leafs of two would-be goals from right on the doorstep to keep the Panthers on top 4-2.

Starting 16 of the last 20 games, Bobrovsky has settled into a nice groove in between the pipes for Florida as of late. Enjoying that heavy workload, he's posted an 8-7-1 record with a .909 save percentage in that stretch. In that same span, he's posted a .921 save percentage at 5-on-5.
In 29 appearances this season, Bobrovsky owns a 12-13-2 record.

4. PENALTIES PILE UP

Right from the get-go you could tell this game had a different feel to it.
While both teams had their gripes with the officiating, the Panthers clearly faced the brunt of the whistles as they were forced to kill off seven power plays, including four in the first period alone.
Of all the penalties, the one Maurice, who was on point in his post-game availability, pointed to in particular after the game was the charging call on Radko Gudas that led to a power-play goal for the Maple Leafs that trimmed their deficit to 4-3 late in the second period.
"Radko Gudas hits as a clean a hit as you can level -- stick on stick, body on body," Maurice said. "A charge? They're both going in the same direction. No problem with the guys going to the net at all. That's hockey."
Despite battling through those penalties, the Panthers were proud of their performance.
"We battled as hard as we could," Barkov said. "Obviously if you spend a lot of time in our zone on the penalty kill, they're going to get their shots and going to get their momentum. It's hard to spend so much time there, but I think we did really well. We got to the overtime, and it could've gone either way."

5. MAKING PROGRESS

The Panthers feel like they're starting to turn things around.
Looking at their recent games, they're not wrong.
Going 5-2-1 over their last seven games, the Panthers have successfully made up some ground in their push back into the playoff picture. As it stands now, they're three points out of a coveted wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 36 games still left on their schedule this season.
"I feel like we've been finding our identity a little bit," Barkov said. "We had it at the beginning of the year, but then a little slump after that. I think the last 2-3 weeks we've been kind of finding how to play as a team, how to work really hard and play smart."
When players talk about this current stretch, one word keeps popping up: consistency.
"A lot of resilience," Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. "We come out and compete every night. We prepare well. The coaches are giving us the tools to win, and we're executing at a higher consistency than we did earlier in the season."