The puck was loose in front of the net, and both Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk pounced at the opportunity.
As the Florida Panthers’ stars jammed at the puck, Barkov finally did just enough to get it past Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Immediately after scoring that third-period goal, Barkov dropped to one knee and gave a rare show of emotion with an emphatic fist pump before being bombarded in celebration by Tkachuk and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
“I don’t know what to say there,” Barkov said.