Florida shocked the fans in Dallas, coming back from a three-goal deficit

The Florida Panthers ran into one of the best teams in the Western Conference on Tuesday night and nearly got run out of the building.

Falling behind 3-0 to the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars wasn’t a situation the Panthers have had to endure during their recent run of remarkable play, but it did provide Florida an opportunity.

Finding ways to play their game and manage different situations are the kind of lessons the Cats want to be learning as the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue approaching.

Granted, falling behind to a very good team isn’t a recipe for success, but it just goes to show how good this Panthers team can be.

And that takes us to our first takeaway…

Snapped back into form

If there is one constant that we’ve heard from the Panthers players, and their head coach, all season, it’s that playing the style of hockey that Florida strives for is not an easy thing to do.

On top of the incredible amount of nonstop effort it takes, there is also a level of trust and communication that goes into it, because all five players on the ice have to be in sync with one another.

There is a high still level required, as well as an ability to play a physically demanding game.

If the Panthers aren’t firing on all cylinders, they can be exploited in certain ways by skilled or well-coached teams, but when they’re on…good luck.

“We have a certain style of game that we play, and it's hard,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said. “There's no halfway to play that game. We went through the first 30 minutes for sure, possibly two periods of hockey, where we weren't anywhere near…we didn’t look the way we're supposed to look. It just wasn't right. It wasn't hard enough. And that's all we needed in the third. It wasn't about winning the game – and the comeback is great for the players, they get to enjoy it – but to be able to not have anything going for two periods, and then get to play hard, the way we need to play, that's a really important thing to carry with you, so you always know you're never out of the game.”

It started with the power play

Sam Reinhart’s second period power play goal was the beginning of Florida’s big push.

They really turned things in their favor during the third period, and the power play was a key component in that as well, but going into that second intermission down by two instead of three was crucial in terms of the mental approach for the team.

“It certainly kind of stopped the bleeding,” Maurice said of Reinhart’s goal. “You go into the third period downs three, it's quite a bit tougher. The dreaded 3-1 lead, you know you are just one shot away from changing the mood in the room, changing the tenor of the game.”

It also ended with the power play

Florida finished the game with not one, not two, but three goals scored while on the man advantage.

It’s no big surprise to see the Panthers power play humming along because that’s what it’s done for much of the past several months.

Taking a closer look at the goals scored on Tuesday, there is something a little off.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“So good,” Maurice said of the power play. “And it looked different, right? Both of those goals are not the standard Barkov-Tkachuk-Reinhart combination that we've seen. So, some growth in our power play. It was outstanding tonight.”

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