5 TAKEAWAYS: Reinhart's Goal Caps Off Epic Comeback for Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. -The "Comeback Cats" have done it again.
Trailing 4-1 against the Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals heading into the third period, Sam Reinhart wired home a shot on the power play with 14.4 seconds remaining in regulation to cap off yet another wild comeback and lift the Panthers to a 5-4 win at FLA Live Arena on Tuesday.

"It feels great," said Reinhart, who threaded a shot just under Ilya Samsonov's blocker for the winner. "To be able to complete that comeback in regulation for that crowd tonight was big."
Improving to 15-4-3 and reclaiming the top spot in the Atlantic Division, the Cats had only ever erased a three-goal deficit in the third period to win a game three other times in their history.
"It was impressive," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said with a smile. "It shows the resilience of the group. … I thought the desperation level went up three or four notches in the third period. It wasn't one guy. It was all four lines, all six D rolling. It was fun to watch."
Of course, in order to pull off such a comeback there needs to be a struggle first.
Giving up a pair of goals 11 seconds apart in the first period, the Panthers fell behind early against the Capitals. Right after Connor McMichael banked in a shot off Sergei Bobrovsky from behind the cage to make it 1-0 at 5:52. Beck Malenstyn scored his first NHL goal to make it 2-0 at 6:03.
Pushing back for the Panthers less than a minute later, Joe Thornton tapped a rebound past Samsonov from right on top of the crease after a shot from Aaron Ekblad to make it 2-1 at 6:55.
Cutting to the net to score another goal for the Capitals in the second period, Lars Eller took a pass from Tom Wilson, flew into the offensive zone, dashed from the left circle into the low slot and lifted a shot past Bobrovsky and into the twine with his backhand to make it a 3-1 game at 6:40.
Padding the lead for Washington, Nick Jensen scored from the high slot to make it 4-1 at 12:40.
"You let in a couple goals and you kind of battle back," Brunette said. "I felt like we were kind of getting our game going in the second half of the first [period]. I thought at the start of the second we started going again, and then it was 3-1, 4-1, and I felt that we were disconnected there for about 10 minutes in the period. Frustration was leaking in a bit, some individualism at times."
Heading into the second intermission, Reinhart said silence spoke volumes in the locker room.
"It was pretty quiet going into the third," he said. "We kind of knew what needed to be done."
Focused on the task at hand, the Panthers then got a spark from their fourth-liners.
After Patric Hornqvist set up Ryan Lomberg for seemingly an empty-net goal to trim the deficit to 4-2 just 3:23 into the third period, Eetu Luostarinen then made it a one-goal game when took a lob pass from Lomberg and beat Samsonov on a shorthanded breakaway to make it 4-3 at 6:09.
"After my goal we were still two goals out and there was still work to be done," Lomberg said when asked about the game's noticeable momentum swing. "But after Luosty's shorthanded goal, we knew that if we stayed with it we would tie it and then eventually get the winner."
Evening things up on the power play later in the period, Sam Bennett set up shop in front of the net and re-directed a shot from Ekblad with his stick blade into the twine to make it 4-4 at 12:01.
Back on the man advantage with less than a minute left in the game after Bobrovsky drew an interference penalty on Malenstyn, Reinhart collected a pass from Huberdeau, who dished out three assists against the Capitals, and sniped a shot past Samsonov to lock in the 5-4 victory.
Falling to 14-4-5, Washington is tied with Florida for the most points in the NHL.
"We have a belief that we can come back, we can score, and we can play at a high tempo," Brunette said of the Panthers, who finish 2-1-0 in their series with the Capitals this season. "It's nice to put this one in the bank. You can reflect on it and say we know what it takes to win."
Looking to build off this latest comeback, the Cats will host the Sabres on Thursday.
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's win in Sunrise…

1. THORNTON'S CLIMB

Thornton has certainly learned a thing or two during his nearly 1,700 games in the NHL.
One of the biggest things he's picked up: If you want to score a goal, you go to the net. Digging in at the top of the blue paint, the veteran spun around and tapped a rebound into the cage after a shot from Ekblad to get Florida on the board and make it 2-1 in the first period.

Making a dent on the scoresheet in each of the last two games, Thornton has now moved into a tie with Mark Recchi (1,533) for the 12th-most points in NHL history. Once he overtakes Recchi, the next player ahead of him on the points leaderboard is Ray Bourque (1,579) in 11th place.
In 12 games this season, Thornton has notched four points (two goals, two assists).

2. LOMBERG LIGHTS THE SPARK

When the Panthers needed a spark, the Lomberghini was there to provide it.
With the fourth line finally being rewarded for its efforts, all three players on the line picked up a point when Hornqvist dug a pass from Luostarinen out from a scrum and set up Lomberg for a goal from the left side of the net to cut Florida's deficit in half and make it 4-2 in the third period.

"I think there's a belief in that room that we're never out of a fight," Lomberg said of kicking off the comeback. "As soon as that first domino fell, we kept our foot on the gas, and here we are."
Earning the first multi-point game of his career, Lomberg finished with a goal and an assist while skating a season-high 15:30 against the Capitals. Only days removed from signing a two-year contract extension, he's already set a new career-high with five points (two goals, three assists).
"They buzzed all night," Brunette said of the fourth line. "It was nice to see them get rewarded."

3. LUOSTARINEN'S SHORTY

This is where you really started to feel things turn.
Showing off their claws on the penalty kill, the Panthers pulled within one goal when Lomberg lobbed a perfect pass out of the defensive zone right onto the stick of Luostarinen, who then slipped a shot through Samsonov's five-hole on a breakaway to make it 4-3 in the third period.

Not long after the goal, Bobrovsky came up with an incredible save to keep the score intact.
"That was a huge goal, and then Bob made a huge save," Brunette said of the huge sequence. "You feel when he makes that save that we have a chance to get something out of this game. For me, those were the two moments where I felt that something good could really happen."

Improving to 10-1-2, Bobrovsky finished with 23 saves, while Samsonov made 46.
As for Luostarinen, he continues to rise to the occasion. In just 19 games, the 23-year-old center has already more than doubled his previous career-high goal total with seven so far. Of those seven goals, three have been game-winners, which places him tied for first on Florida.
"I see a young player growing with some confidence," Brunette said. Achieving a nice milestone, the shorthanded goal was Luostarinen's first of his career.

4. PLAYING WITH POWER

On the power play with the game on his stick, Reinhart brought fans to their feet.
Not content simply holding on for at least one point and getting the game to overtime, Reinhart took a cross-ice pass from Huberdeau, skated toward the center of the left circle and ripped a shot that flew between the post and Samsonov's blocker to make it 5-4 with 14.4 seconds left.
According to NHL PR, Reinhart is just the fourth player this season to score a go-ahead goal in the final 15 seconds of regulation.
"The depth showed," he said of the comeback. "We're happy with the effort."

Getting back on track on the power play in the blink of an eye, both Bennett's game-tying goal and Reinhart's game-winning goal came with the extra attacker on the ice for the Panthers.

"Really happy for the power play," Brunette said. "They've put a lot of pressure on themselves to make a difference. They know we're in a little bit of a couple games where we didn't win, and they're putting pressure on themselves to produce. It was fun to see them get a couple."
Tallying a secondary assist on Reinhart's winner, Ekblad finished the game with three helpers.

5. AN AMAZING THIRD

To understand just how amazing the Panthers were in the third period, let's go to the numbers.
Firing on all cylinders over the final 20 minutes, the Cats led the Capitals 27-2 in shots on goal, 34-4 in shot attempts, 23-1 in scoring chances and, of course, 4-0 in goals in the final frame.
A historically strong finish, Florida has recorded 27+ shots in a period just four times ever.
"In the third period, we found some energy right at the start," Brunette said. "We fed off each other and we fed off the crowd. The crowd was really into it, and I think that helped our guys."
Likewise, Reinhart gave a lot of credit to the home crowd for the team's comeback.
"We were able to feed off the crowd in the third," said Reinhart, whose goal blew the roof off the arena. "The power play stepped up big for us, so that was a confidence booster for a lot of us."
Only Florida and Tampa Bay have erased a three-goal, third-period deficit to win this season.