The vibes inside Amerant Bank Arena were immaculate at the end of Friday’s game between the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes.
For the first time in franchise history, Florida erased a three-goal deficit with less than ten minutes to go, earning a resounding 4-3 shootout victory over the Hurricanes.
The victory was the fourth in a row for the Cats and the seventh over their past eight games.
It also moved Florida, for now, into second place in the Atlantic Division, one point back of first-place Detroit.
There was a lot to like about Friday’s win, so let’s get to the takeaways:
LUNDELL SAVES THE DAY
Florida’s epic comeback was nearly thwarted by Andrei Svechnikov in the final moments.
With Sergei Bobrovsky on the bench for an extra attacker, Svechnikov picked up the puck and had only Anton Lundell standing between him and a game-sealing empty-net goal.
As Svechnikov approached Florida’s blue line he attempted to stickhandle himself to a position where he could put the puck on net. That’s when Lundell stepped up and disrupted the play, taking the puck off Svechnikov’s stick and moving it back toward Carolina’s end of the ice.
Moments later, Florida scored the game-tying goal with 41.1 seconds on the clock.
“That was pretty good,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said with a smile.
“He saved the game,” added Panthers forward Brad Marchand. “Svechnikov is a great player that can easily make a move on a D-man and get a shot on net with that much space, so yeah, he completely saved the game. He made a great play, and then we go down score right after. A great job by him.”
BELIEF NEVER WAVERED
For those who have been paying attention over the past several years, the Comeback Cats are nothing new.
This time, however, there was a little more gravity to the situation.
The scoreboard did not scream ‘you can do it’ with Florida down 3-0 and the clock ticking past the 10-minute mark.
But between the veterans on the bench helping maintain the team’s composure and the skilled players who never say die no matter what the numbers on the jumbotron says, it was quite impressive to see the Panthers pull off such a startling comeback, and against perhaps the stingiest team in the NHL.
“You know what? It's easy to believe, but at the same time, you also know how hard it is,” said Maurice. “There's nothing easy about winning that game tonight. We will have plays that we didn't like and parts of the game that we didn't like, but we also had a bunch of things just didn't go for us. We had a bunch of chances that didn't go, and that's usually what the losing coach says, we had our chances, but I was good with our game. Like where we are in the year, and where we are trying to build our team this year and the way we play, when you look up (and the score is) 3-0, and you don't think that's quite the way the game was played. So we needed one of these where a couple things went our way in the end.”
MARCHAND THE CHEAT CODE
It’s pretty unbelievable what Marchand has been doing this season for the Panthers.
The 37-year-old is looking 10 years younger, playing some elite hockey on the ice while being an incredibly positive emotional leader off the ice.
Marchand scored his 20th goal of the season during the third period on Friday to spark Florida’s comeback.
He’s now racked up four goals and eight points over his past four games and his line with Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe has been incredibly effective on both ends of the ice.
“Marchy, as he always does…we're down three, he’s screaming, ‘We can do this’ and he scores the first goal,” Maurice said. “That was really the big one that kind of gave us some life. It almost takes some pressure off you at that point. You can throw it at them, pull the goalie, and so those guys got it done.”
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Photo caption: Dec 19, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; The Florida Panthers celebrate their win against the Carolina Hurricanes following the shootout at Amerant Bank Arena. (Rhona Wise-Imagn Images)