RECAP: Panthers 5, Stars 4

SUNRISE, Fla. – Fueled by a big night from their top line, the Florida Panthers fended off a late push from the Dallas Stars in a 5-4 win at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday.

With the win, Florida improved to 15-8-2 and reclaimed second place in the Atlantic Division.

Named the three stars of the game, Evan Rodrigues (first star: two goals, two assists), Aleksander Barkov (second star: one goal, one assist) and Sam Reinhart (third star: one goal, two assists) combined for nine points and were dominate on defense.

“They needed it because they’ve been doing the right things for a while,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the team's dynamic top line. “That was Evan Rodrigues’ best performance. We’ll talk about the four points, but I like all the other stuff he did away from the puck. He was physical, was on pucks, defended real hard and got a good payoff."

Racing out to an early lead, the Panthers broke the ice when Rodrigues collected a stretch pass from Niko Mikkola and sniped a shot past Jake Oettinger’s blocker from near the top of the circles to make it 1-0 at 4:39 of the first period.

Getting that goal back for the Stars, Radek Faksa found some open ice in the offensive zone and blasted a blistering one-timer past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 1-1 at 13:42.

Regaining the lead for the Panthers, the top line teamed up for another stellar goal. After Barkov sent a shot off the end boards, Reinhart pounced on the puck and roofed it over Oettinger from the left side of the net to make it 2-1 at 18:14.

In addition to providing traffic in front, Rodrigues picked up the secondary assist.

“I think when we’re all supporting the puck, it’s a simpler game,” said Reinhart, who leads the team with 17 goals. “We’re not stretched out trying to make harder plays. I thought the last two games especially we’ve got a lot closer to each other."

Adding to the lead for the Panthers just 24 seconds into the second period, Carter Verhaeghe took a pass from Sam Bennett on a 3-on-2 rush, carried the puck into the bottom of the left circle and beat Oettinger with a bar-down beauty to make it 3-1.

Helping keep the two-goal cushion intact, Bobrovsky – despite not having a paddle – came up with a key save in the final seconds of the period against Wyatt Johnston.

Earning his third straight win, Bobrovksy finished with 29 saves.

Cutting into their deficit just 39 seconds into the third period, the Stars made it a one-goal game when – after a faceoff win the offensive zone – Mason Marchment powered home a loose puck from near the crease on the power play to make it 3-2.

Not long after that, another former Panther, Evgenii Dadonov, got the game all squared up when he redirected a slap-pass from Esa Lindell into the net to make it 3-3 at 4:14.

That’s when the captain stepped in.

With everyone on the ice losing sight of the puck after Reinhart fired a shot off the end boards, Barkov found it and lifted it into the top of the cage from in tight to throw some cold water on Dallas’ comeback attempt and put Florida up 4-3 at 4:52.

“I was just going to the net and the puck was there,” Barkov said. “It was pretty much an empty net. When we shoot the puck and move in the offensive zone, chances are there.”

Finally earning a trip to the power play after the first three belonged to the Stars, the Panthers quickly struck again when Rodrigues made a quick fake in the slot before burying a shot to extend the lead to 5-3 at the 8-minute mark of the period.

“The points are nice, but the wins are even better,” said Rodrigues, who ranks fourth on the team with 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) this season. “From the day I got here, every guy in this room has welcomed me. It’s a great group, a team in every sense of the word. Yeah, I’m having a lot of fun, probably the most fun ever.”

That goal would prove to be critical as Thomas Harley cut Florida’s lead down to 5-4 soon after when his point shot on the power play took an odd route through traffic and got through Bobrovsky at 12:26.

But when push came to shove, the Panthers held on.

After the Stars pulled Oettinger to gain a 6-on-5 advantage, Barkov, Reinhart, Rodrigues, Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling had a monster shift. On the ice for roughly 1:30, they nearly ran out the entire clock before a late stoppage in play.

With only 15 or so seconds left, the Panthers proceeded to lock down the win.

“They’re built a lot like us,” Maurice said. “They’re a very deep, very veteran team. We wanted to have a playoff mindset. You can expect that the other team is going to have something go for them because they’re a good team. You’re not dominating these teams. When it does [go for them], your game doesn’t change.

“That event happened a couple times. We were feeling good after the first goal and then they tied it, but I liked our game after that. A couple strange ones there to tie it 3-3, but there really wasn’t a sag or a panic on the bench. Just go and play the next shift. … I like the way the bench felt with the momentum swings that we saw.”

THEY SAID IT

“The Barky one was really big. It kind of settled us down and gave us the lead again and we could just go from there.” – Sam Reinhart on Aleksander Barkov’s go-ahead goal in the third period

“We just keep working, keep learning new things, keep working on our game. By this time, we know where each other are. I know where Reino’s going and Roddy’s going. It’s easy to play with those guys. They’re smart players.” – Aleksander Barkov on linemates Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues

“That was actually a message pregame. We knew it was going to be a playoff-type game. That’s a great team over there. The focus was just on the next shift no matter what happened. Treat it like it’s the playoffs. Limit the momentum swings. We did a great job of that.” – Evan Rodrigues on Florida’s response in the third period

CATS STATS

- Sam Reinhart recorded his 12^th multi-point game of the season.

- The Panthers improved to 10-0-2 when scoring first this season.

- Evan Rodrigues recorded his second four-point game of the season.

- Aleksander Barkov blocked a team-high three shots on goal.

- Carter Verhaeghe extended his goal-scoring streak to three games.

- Sergei Bobrovsky improved to 17-2-2 in his career against Dallas.

- Florida led 25-16 in scoring chances at 5-on-5.

WHAT’S NEXT?

In the final game of their three-game homestand, the Panthers will host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click here.