Takeaways as Panthers outlast Hurricanes in thrilling 4OT series opener

Anthony Duclair bought time for Matthew Tkachuk

While he did score the quadruple-overtime winner, Florida’s primary source of offense, Matthew Tkachuk, was held in check for most of the contest. He only had two shots before his heroics, but he came through when it mattered the most. However, before their savior awoke from his slumber, the Panthers needed someone else to step up, and that was forward Anthony Duclair.

The 27-year-old, in his ninth NHL season, recorded two assists in a span of 2:15 in the second period, giving Florida the lead. The first came courtesy of a stretch pass from Marc Stall, who pounced on a Jesperi Kotkaniemi turnover and found Carter Verhaeghe, who found Duclair with an entering the offensive zone. Duclair passed the puck to an open Aleksander Barkov, who roofed it over Andersen to tie it.

Then, Duclair found Verhaeghe, whose shot from the right circle put Florida in front.

Duclair did everything but score despite registering a game-high eight shots tied with Hurricanes defenseman Brett Burnes in 35:51 of ice time.

The Duclair-Barkov-Verhaeghe line led the Panthers with 30:56 ice time and outshot opponents 37-32. They broke the barrier that is the Hurricanes stifling defense, giving other units confidence they could do the same. But it took time for the comforting feeling to lead to results on the ice, as the Panthers were a step slow in the third period, struggled to finish checks, and turned pucks over, resulting in a slew of Carolina scoring chances. Luckily, they had a Vezina trophy winner between the pipes who kept the ship upright until the rest of its crew returned.