5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers Force OT Late, Earn Point in SO Loss at Dallas

The Panthers picked up a point, but would've liked to have pocketed a pair.
After tying the game with less than 30 seconds left in regulation, the Cats saw their winning streak snapped at four games with a 6-5 shootout loss to the Stars at American Airlines Center on Thursday.

"Two teams that are really good teams going at it," said Panthers forward Joe Thornton, who skated in the 1,700th game of his storied NHL career. "We got one point, but it would've been nice to grab the two. The boys dug deep and fought hard to get that point."
On the power play after Carter Verhaeghe used his speed to draw a holding penalty, the Panthers opened the scoring in the Lone Star State when Aleksander Barkov one-timed a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau right past Braden Holtby from the slot to make it a 1-0 game at 8:27 of the first period.

Evening up the score a little over four minutes later, the Stars got on the board when, after a faceoff win in the offensive zone, John Klingberg gathered the puck and fired a shot from the point that was then redicted by Michael Raffl past Sergei Bobrovsky and into the twine to make it a 1-1 contest at 12:53.
Despite heading into the first intermission tied, Florida led 13-7 in scoring chances.
Finding the back of the net once again - this time while on the penalty kill - Barkov regained the lead for the Panthers when he took a pass from Aaron Ekblad, finessed his way around a defender and tucked a backhand shot past Holtby for a shorthanded goal to make it 2-1 just 18 seconds into the second period.
Trading goals, the Stars then got the game tied again when Denis Gurianov scored on the power play to make it 2-2 at 1:46. Burning out the bulbs in the red lights, Patric Hornqvist then put the Panthers back on top when he set up shop in the slot and tipped in a shot from Gustav Forsling to make it 3-2 at 4:07.
Swinging momentum back in favor of the Stars in the span of just 28 seconds, Jason Robertson and Tyler Seguin then scored at 13:10 and 13:38, respectively, to make it 4-3. But with just 2:43 left in the period, MacKenzie Weegar finished off some great work from the fourth line with a goal to make it a 4-4 game.
"We don't want to trade chances," Barkov said of the action. "We want to control the game and play with the puck. Without the puck, we want to control the game. We're learning and we'll be better."
After Jamie Benn scored a go-ahead goal to put the Stars up 5-4 at 6:26 of the third period, the Panthers kept on pushing until, with Bobrovsky pulled for a 6-on-5 advantage, Jonathan Huberdeau threaded a long shot through traffic with roughly 29 seconds left on the clock to make it 5-5 and force overtime.
While both teams had some good looks during a very fast and furious extra frame of action, the game eventually to the shootout where Joe Pavelski and Robertson scored to secure the 6-5 win for Dallas.
"I thought we played a 50/50 hockey game on the road," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "I thought there were stretches where we played well and stretches where we didn't. It wasn't our A-game, but we found a way [to get a point]."
Sitting at 22-7-5, the Cats will wrap up their two-game road trip at Carolina on Saturday.
"Obviously we've been really good at home," said Barkov, citing Florida's stellar 18-3-0 mark in Sunrise. "We established that identity at home, but now we've got to figure out how to do it on the road now."
Here are five takeaways from Thursday's shootout loss in Dallas…

1. BARKY ON BOTH SIDES

Not many players can be counted on in all situations.
Even fewer can score in all situations.
After breaking the ice with a one-timer on the man advantage in the first period, Barkov opened up the second period with a highlight-reel play when he maneuvered his way around a defender before tucking in a shorthanded goal past Holtby to give Florida a 2-1 lead just 18 seconds after the puck had dropped.

Earning at least one point in 17 of 21 games that he's appeared in this season, Barkov has scored four times over his last four games to move into first place on the team's goal-scoring leaderboard with 14.
In addition to lighting the lamp twice to help the Cats get a point, the captain also tallied an assist, five shots on goal, two hits, two blocks and won 55% of his faceoffs over 23:40 of ice time against the Stars.

2. HORNQVIST STAYS HOT

Hornqvist is heating up.
After pocketing a pair of goals in Tuesday's win over the Canadiens, the hard-nosed veteran added another tonight when he tipped a shot from Forsling into the net to make it 3-2 in the middle frame.

Almost magnetically drawn to the net all night long, Hornqvist, who also chipped in an assist, had his fingerprints all over the positive things the Panthers did against the Stars. On the ice for four of the team's five goals, he was pretty much in Holtby's face all game, including on Huberdeau's late score.
Skating in all 34 games this season, Hornqvist has posted 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists).

3. WEEGAR BURIES ONE

A lot of hard work led to this score.
With the fourth line applying tons of pressure, Weegar got the puck from Eetu Luostarinen, worked his way through the slot and buried a goal from the right center to make it a 4-4 game in the second period.

Sitting second among Florida's defensemen in points with 20 (two goals, 18 assists), Weegar has now recorded two goals and three assists over his last five games. Against the Stars, he led all Panthers with seven shots on goal and also contributed three hits and two blocks over 27:38 of ice time.
When he was on the ice at 5-on-5 tonight, the Cats led 8-5 in scoring chances.

4. HUBY'S HEROICS

Huberdeau is showing no signs of slowing down.
With the Panthers pulling their goaltender to get an extra attacker out on the ice late in the third period, Huberdeau, after a clutch faceoff win from Barkov, took a pass from Ekblad and wired home a shot past a screened Holtby with less than 30 seconds left on the clock to make it a 5-5 game and force overtime.

"The talent kind of came out there during that stretch," Brunette said.
Named the NHL's "Third Star of the Week" on Monday, Huberdeau finished with a goal and an assist against the Stars, giving him 11 points (two goals, nine assists) over his last four games. At the time of this writing, the red-hot winger is sitting fourth in the league in points (44) and second in assists (32).
"We battled back," Barkov said. "We found a way to tie the game."

5. A JUMBO MILESTONE

It seems like we can't go more than a game or two without Thornton hitting a major milestone.
By taking the ice against the Stars, the 42-year-old veteran officially became just the sixth player in NHL history to appear in at least 1,700 regular-season games. Of those games, 532 came with the Bruins, who drafted him 1st overall in 1997, 1,104 came with the Sharks, 44 came with the Maple Leafs and 20 have come with the Panthers.

"I've met so many great people and so many people have helped me get here -- trainers, great teammates, great coaches," said Thornton, whose hunt for a Stanley Cup led to him inking a one-year deal with the Panthers this summer. "It's a community that allows you to get this far. I thank them all."
In 20 games this season, Thornton has produced four goals and two assists.