Last night the Florida Panthers turned a potential disaster into a golden opportunity to move themselves back into the last playoff spot in the East with a remarkable come from behind victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Panthers, at one point down 3 goals in the 3rd period, scored 3 goals in just over 6 minutes to force overtime. Just when it seemed a shoot out (the Panthers achilles heal this season) was iminent, Florida scored on its only shot of the OT session to steal a 5-4 victory.

The 1st period of the game was a rather slow affair that saw Florida out shoot Toronto 11-9, but Toronto would score the only goal of the period at 10:31 to take a 1-0 lead after the 1st. The 2nd period was a much more frenzied period, both teams racking up 14 shots on goal. Florida tied things up at 1-1 when Brett McLean found the back of the net for his 4th of the season after just 3:13. The rest of the period would be back and forth until the final 3:10 of the period when Toronto scored twice to take a 3-1 lead into the intermission.

The 3rd period was much like the 2nd, but lady luck as on Florida’s bench this time. Both teams again racked up a lot of shots on goal, 16-12 in favor of Toronto. Early on it looked like Toronto put Florida away when they scored at 7:47 of the 3rd to go up 4-1. Nathan Horton breathed life into his team though by scoring a mere 26 seconds later to give his team hope at 4-2. Ville Peltonen scored at 10:48 to pull Florida within a goal at 4-3, and at this point it seemed Florida could not be stopped. Richard Zednik scored at 14:31 to tie the game at 4-4 and the Panthers would hold on to force overtime.

The Panthers’ comeback was made all the more exciting in OT. As the overtime dragged on with neither team getting a shot on goal, Florida found a way to win and avoid the shoot out. Richard Zednik would strike again, scoring on the only shot of the OT period with just 1:03 left to steal the victory.

The Panthers comeback is made all the more important because it vaulted them past idle Carolina and back into the 8th spot in the East, 1pt ahead of the Hurricanes. Florida has been very good at coming from behind in games this season, especially when down by more than 1 goal. Their biggest problem however has been coming back, only to fall in a shoot out and not get the full points out of a game. Zednik’s OT goal certainly brought his team to life, and at a crucial point. Florida’s next game is a big one as they face Carolina Thursday night. A win on Thursday and the Panthers can gain some breathing space in the standings, but a loss puts them back behind Carolina in 9th place.