Huberdeau, Ellis Lead Panthers In Victory

What a night for Jonathan Huberdeau.

On yet another night where injuries and the flu bug have plagued the entirety of the team, the Florida Panthers have managed to pull a complete effort out of their bag of tricks in Saturday night’s 4-3 shootout victory over one of the NHL’s elite club’s, the New York Islanders.

The “RatCap”

On Saturday night, the Florida Panthers continued their season-high seven game homestand against one of the NHL’s biggest surprises of the team, the high flying New York Islanders. In the midst of “The Final 22”, with fifteen of the team’s remaining twenty two games being played at home, the Panthers hoped to end their two game skid (vs. Maple Leafs, Stars) and keep pace with the Boston Bruins in the standings.

The Florida Panthers would strike first at the 12:51 mark, as Erik Gudbranson would launch an innocent looking wrist shot from the blue line that would deflect off an Islander and past goaltender Michal Neuvirth for his career high fourth goal of the season.

Florida Panthers

The team’s would continue exchanging scoring chances while playing sound defense through the first period and into the second period, as Nick Bjugstad would make a pass to his teammate that would be intercepted by New York’s John Tavares, who would launch himself on a breakaway and make Panthers goaltender Dan Ellis look silly in the process as he would score his 32nd goal of the season, and his 17th point in his past ten games.

It wouldn’t take long for Nick Bjugstad to atone for his sins, as the young center would receive a pass nearly four minutes later and then would go to his backhand to score his 23rd goal of the season. The Islanders would comeback to tie the game yet again, this time on the power play, as Nick Leddy would launch a slapshot from the point that would find it’s way between bodies and would deflect off a Panther’s stick and into the net for his 10th of the season.

From there on, it became the Jonathan Huberdeau show. The young forward would receive a nice pass from Aleksander Barkov and would then perform a spin-a-rama and then shot the puck past Neuvirth for his 11th goal of the season and his sixth point in his past four games. But for the third time in this game, the Islanders would find a way to tie the game, as Josh Bailey would receive a pass and would release a heck of a one-timer past Ellis for his 14th goal of the season.

Victor “E” Rat’s Player Of The Game

Jonathan Huberdeau, aka Mr. Huby Dooby Doo, is the player deserving of this honor, as he would score one goal while maintaining a steady plus/minus rating of +1 in 18:43 of TOI over 22 shifts. He would also score the game-deciding shootout goal.

Not to mention, contributing a candidate for the Florida Panthers Top 5 Goals of the Year video package.

The Rat Trick

Not to be forgotten has been the play of veteran goaltender Dan Ellis. Getting the call to duty in wake of injuries to Panthers goaltenders Roberto Luongo and Al Montoya, Dan “The Man” would earn his first NHL victory in over a year, as he defeated the Anaheim Ducks way back on Feburary 1st, 2014 as a member of the Dallas Stars. While he lost his first five games with the Panthers last season, and losing confidence of all of the fans and coaching staff in the process, he has really stepped up to the plate and has earned three out of a possible four points for his team. Way to go, sir.
The Panthers have had the flu bug hover around the team for the past 48 hours now, as players have been leaving and entering the lineup. While Erik Gudbranson, Willie Mitchell, and Jaromir Jagr would return to the lineup, the team would be without Tomas Kopecky and Aaron Ekblad for this contest. In addition, Roberto Luongo, Al Montoya, and Dave Bolland would continue to be absent from the roster with their respective injuries.
When Nick Bjugstad’s turnover in the second period led to the Islanders’ first goal of the game, head coach Gerard Gallant would not hesitate to keep him on the bench, as Bjugstad would score on his next shift of the game nearly four minutes later. In addition, since the team elected to shoot first during Thursday’s 4-3 shootout loss against the Stars, Gallant decided to elect to shoot second this time around That move would pay off with a Panthers victory. The coaching staff has been huge in various aspects of the team’s season, and huge kudos has to be given to the men behind the bench.

The Road Ahead

The Florida Panthers will put a bow on their seven game homestand, as the team will face off against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, March 12th. The team hopes to welcome back starting goaltender Roberto Luongo from injury, as the team once again remains two points behind the Boston Bruins, who will play two contests during the Panthers four day break. The team also remains three points ahead of both the Ottawa Senators and the Philadelphia Flyers.

Next: Panthers Call Up Ellis, Brittain From Minors As Luongo, Montoya Injured

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Florida Panthers: Jonathan Huberdeau Shines In Thrilling 4-3 Shootout Win Over Islanders