#1 in NHL, Panthers pull off stunning comeback win in Dallas - CBS Miami's Steve Goldstein
MIAMI - Heading into Tuesday's big game in Dallas, the Panthers were on a roll.
Atop the league standings, they had lost only five games in regulation since December. They also had outrageously won 14 of their last 15 road games. The Stars were fourth in the league, so this was a big game between two Stanley Cup hopefuls. The game lived up to the hype.
Stars Start
Dallas was the better team the opening two periods. The Panthers were a step behind and fell behind 3-0. The outstanding goaltending of Sergei Bobrovsky kept them in the game.
Comeback Cats
Sam Reinhart scored his league leading 26th power play goal to get the Panthers going. Down 3-1 going to the third period a different team came out of the lockeroom. The team that we saw in last year's playoffs and the majority of this season.
Power Up
Led by Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov, the Panthers scored 3 goals in about 5 minutes to stun the Stars and take a 4-3 lead. The team's structure and defensive game took over to get the win.
Tkachuk Hot
After a slow statistical start to the season, the star winger has been unstoppable. Since late December, he has been scoring at about a 135-point pace. Tkachuk is also among NHL leaders in drawing penalties, an underrated statistic. In Dallas, his tenacious boardwork drew a tripping penalty that led to the game-winning goal on the power play.
Playoff Week
After beating Dallas, the Panthers are onto Carolina on Thursday and then host Tampa on Saturday. It's a week of games against playoff teams that the Cats may face in the playoffs. Carolina is the only team to beat the Panthers on the road since December, a 1-0 playoff-style game a few weeks ago. The Panthers road game is a simple formula of being simple, smart, and competing. This team's competition level is off the charts and playing harder than the other team travels. Thus, the road to success.
Bob Moves Up
Sergei Bobrovsky is on the verge of becoming the 14th goalie in history to win 400 games. He is at 392 now, so it may be tough to reach 400 this season. But not impossible. He has been playing great making the big save at key times.