5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers erase another big deficit to beat Maple Leafs in OT

SUNRISE, Fla. - "He can't keep getting away with it!"
If you've spent any time on the internet over the past few years, you've probably seen the GIF of Breaking Bad's Jesse Pinkman staring skyward and shouting those words in a fit of desperation.
Right about now, that's how the rest of the NHL feels when it comes to the Panthers.
Capping off his third five-point performance of the season, Jonathan Huberdeau scored 2:47 into overtime to help the Panthers claw their way back from a four-goal deficit for the second time in the last three games with a 7-6 win over the Maple Leafs at FLA Live Arena on Tuesday.

"We just need one goal, a little spark, and then we get going," Huberdeau said. "We can't do that every game. It's a lot of fun and a lot of energy, but we've just got to play better defensively. We know we can score goals, but it's not going to happen every game. We say that, and it's been happening, but it's something that as we get towards the playoffs just can't happen."
Having already erased a 6-2 deficit in a win over the Devils on April 2, the Panthers are just the second team in NHL history to successfully mount two four-goal comebacks in a single season.
Improving to 49-15-6 and setting a new franchise record for points in a campaign (104), the Panthers hold an eight-point lead over the Maple Leafs for first place in the Atlantic Division.
"A lot of resolve and a lot of grit in this group," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said of the team's never-say-die attitude. "We know that, but we still have to stop doing this."
Earning a power play early in the first period, the Panthers opened the scoring when Sam Reinhart roofed a centering pass from Aleksander Barkov over Erik Kallgren with a perfectly executed re-direction from the slot to make it a 1-0 game just 3:46 after the puck dropped.

Answering with their own goal on the man advantage later in the first, the Maple Leafs managed to pull even when William Nylander teed up a pass from Morgan Rielly and blasted a fiery one-timer past Sergei Bobrovsky from the left circle into the back of the cage to make it 1-1 at 15:21.
Striking on both sides of special teams, Mitch Marner followed up a shorthanded goal just 30 seconds into the second period with a power-play goal at 1:07 to put the Maple Leafs up 3-1. Not long after that, Colin Blackwell found the back of the net to extend the lead to 4-1 at 2:04.
Following that goal, Spencer Knight came into the game in relief of Bobrovsky.
Back in the lineup for the first time since Feb. 21, Jake Muzzin padded the lead for the Maple Leafs even further when he buried a far-side snipe from the left circle to make it 5-1 at 8:40.
"They're fast and we weren't prepared for the pace," Brunette said. "We haven't seen a team like that for a while. We saw them two weeks ago, but we were both on a back-to-back. They were on one [again] tonight, but they came with a lot of pace. They were ready to play."
But as it has been so many times this season, the "Comeback Cats" were then activated.
Swinging momentum back in favor of the Panthers, Reinhart followed up on his own rebound and lifted a shot over Kallgren on the power play to make it 5-2 at 11:52. Less than a minute later, Radko Gudas made it 5-3 when he blasted home a big goal on the penalty kill at 12:51.
"It's 5-1 and then you get that power-play goal," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "Gudy's hard shot on the PK, that helped too. Then it's 5-3 and we're right back in the game."
From there, the goals continued to flow.
With Kallgren exiting the game after taking a shot off his mask, Claude Giroux netted his first goal as a member of the Panthers and made it a one-goal game when he chipped a pinpoint pass from Huberdeau past Jack Campbell from right on the doorstep to make it 5-4 at 17:56.
"[The fans] were in the game," Giroux said of the home crowd. "When we were down 5-1 and made it 5-2, it's like the crowd knew we were coming back. It was pretty loud out there."
On the power play early in the third period, the Panthers had their fans nearly shaking the foundation of the arena after they finally pulled even when Huberdeau potted a goal from just outside the blue paint to suddenly make it 5-5 at 2:45 with the 100th point of his NHL career.

At 8:01, Barkov cashed in on a rebound to put the Panthers on top 6-5, but John Tavares then answered with a power-play goal for the Maple Leafs to make it 6-6 at 16:06 and force overtime.
"We felt good," Barkov said. "They didn't give us much in the second period until we made it 5-2 and then 5-3. After that, we just knew that we were going to come back. It was just a matter of time after we scored those goals, but we need to play like that at the beginning of the game."
Sending fans into a frenzy in the extra frame, Barkov dished a pass through the slot onto the stick of Huberdeau, who one-timed the puck under Campbell's pads to lock down the 7-6 win.
Once again, everything worked out in the end.
But as the playoffs approach, the Panthers want less drama in their lives.
"We definitely don't make it easy on ourselves," Giroux said. "We have a hard time playing 60 minutes, but when we're on we can do a lot of damage. As exciting as it is to win games like this, we need to find ways to win games that aren't as exciting."
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's win in Sunrise…

1. TWO FOR REINO

Reino has reached new heights during his first season in South Florida.
By putting the Panthers up 1-0 with his power-play goal in the first period, Reinhart tallied his 66th point of the season, surpassing his previous career-high total of 65 from back in 2018-19.
Hitting another offensive milestone in the second period, Reinhart lit the lamp again on the power play to cut Florida's deficit down to 5-2 with his career-high 26th goal of the season.

Earning at least one point in 12 of his last 16 games, Reinhart, who has been a model of consistency on offense, sits second on the Panthers in scoring with 68 points (26 goals, 42 assists). During that 16-game stretch, he's produced 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists).
Of his 26 goals, a team-leading 12 have come on the man advantage.

2. BUTCHER'S BOMB

This was quite a blast from the Butcher.
Carrying the puck into the offensive zone on a solo shorthanded rush up the ice, Gudas locked, loaded and unleashed a heavy shot from just below the blue line that sailed past Kallgren and into the back of the net to bring fans to their feet and trim the deficit to 5-3 in the second period.

Suiting up in his 601st NHL game, the shorthanded goal was the first of his career.
"I felt the momentum was kinda coming our way," Gudas said.
In addition to his timely goal, Gudas also had another big night in the hit department. With eight hits against the Maple Leafs, the grizzled defenseman increased his league-leading total to 323.

3. FIRST FOR G

Giroux couldn't have picked a better time to score his first goal as a Panther.
Capping off Florida's incredible surge in the second period, the trade-deadline acquisition directed a centering feed from Huberdeau into the twine to cut the deficit down to just 5-4.

"My teammates were doing a good job of reminding me that I didn't have a goal yet," Giroux smiled. "It's nice to be able to get a goal and help the team have a comeback like we did."
Producing at better than a point-per-game pace since coming over from the Flyers, Giroux has recorded nine points (one goal, eight assists) through his first eight games with the Panthers.
Additionally, he's also winning 56% of his faceoffs.
"A big goal," Brunette said of Giroux's performance tonight. "I thought he really played well through that stretch halfway through the second and through the third. That line really got us going in a lot of different ways. They didn't get totally rewarded for it, but they were going."
When the line of Sam Bennett, Giroux and Huberdeau was on the ice at 5-on-5 against the Maple Leafs, the Panthers led 12-5 in shot attempts, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

4. HUBY'S HEROICS

Carter Verhaeghe joked this morning that Huberdeau leads the team in milestone photos.
After tonight's game, he definitely snapped a few more.
Finishing with five points (two goals, three assists) against the Maple Leafs - including scoring the game-winning goal in overtime - he not only became the first player in Panthers history to reach the 100-point mark, but also the first player in franchise history to accumulate 600 points.

"A lot of milestones," Huberdeau said. "It's pretty cool, especially with a win. It's just been a fun year, and it's going to get more fun. It's been fun, but we haven't done anything in the playoffs."
Shining bright in the biggest game of the season, Huberdeau certainly made a mark in the MVP race against Toronto. As it stands now, he ranks second in the NHL in points with 102 and first in assists with 76, which already stands as the most-ever helpers by a left wing in NHL history.
On a nine-game point streak, he's tallied 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in that stretch.
"I think he's been unbelievable," Barkov said of his longtime teammate. "He's been leading this team the whole season. No nights off at all. He's just solid every time he shows up and does his thing. It's incredible how good he is and how he does those things. It's a lot of fun to see."

5. POINTS FOR SASHA

Not to be outdone by Huberdeau, Barkov is picking up points in bunches these days.
Earning four points (one goal, four assists) against the Maple Leafs, the captain has registered multiple points in five straight games, which is the second-longest such streak in Cats history.

Trailing only Huberdeau in points with 76, he leads the team with 34 goals.
"For Canada to see what we've been talking about with him and Barky and what they can do, good for them," Brunette said of Huberdeau and Barkov coming up big on the big stage. "Huge plays. Kind of what they did all year, they did again tonight."
Dating back to March 5, Barkov has recorded 27 points (nine goals, 18 assists) in 16 games.