Barkov’s game-winner late in OT lifts Panthers over Blues and to third consecutive win

Aleksander Barkov is a Stanley Cup winner, a Presidents’ Trophy winner, and a two-time Selke Trophy (given to the league’s best defensive forward).

About the only box for Barkov left to check to be considered an all-time great? The Hart Trophy, given to the NHL’s most valuable player.

Oddsmakers have Barkov barely in the top 20 to win it this season, but that will change with a few more overtime periods like he had in Friday night’s thrilling 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues.

Barkov during a marathon shift in the extra period helped Sergei Bobrovsky survive a flurry of Blues scoring opportunities, clear the puck, then draw an offensive zone penalty on Brayden Schenn before scoring the game-winner with 16.2 seconds left before the shootout.

It was as impressive of an individual performance as you’ll see in a pressure moment. And Barkov seemed to do it with ease.

“Just great moments from great players, especially with the week he had, flying across the country,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said after Florida improved to 21-11-2 on the year. “He missed some games with an illness. He was on the ice probably two minutes before he took on the rest of their team Those are the things that special players do for the fans and for the other guys on the bench too. We sit and watch that in awe. It was it was fun to be a part of.”

The Panthers scored twice Sunday. Barkov had a hand in both of him for his 31st and 32nd points in just 24 games.

Put bluntly, Florida would not have won without all-star efforts from Barkov and Bobrovsky, who stopped 26 of the 27 shots the Blues (15-16-4) threw his way.

“Yeah, it was a great effort by him, obviously,” said Bobrovsky, who improved to 16-6-1 Friday. “He’s a true leader, a true captain.”

Added Barkov: “Winning is the best.”

They earned that feeling.

The Panthers opened the evening with their first scoreless period in three games, but it wasn’t from lack of effort -- or opportunities.

They had six scoring chances in the first, including a point-blank look by Carter Verhaeghe that should have been a goal.

The Blues, meanwhile, cashed in their only high-danger chance of the period.

St. Louis snapped the scoreless tie by going backhand pass behind the net by Alexandre Texier to backhand topshelf goal by Oskar Sundqvist that Bobrovsky had zero chance to stop.

Florida got the equalizer midway through the second courtesy of the unlikeliest goal scorer on the ice -- Uvis Balinskis, who lit the lamp for just the second time in his two-year career.

But the real stars of the period were Bobrovsky and Niko Mikkola. Bobrovsky stopped all 10 shots he faced in the second. Mikkola had a poke check that may have saved a goal and then kept a loose puck in the zone off a lost faceoff that led to the Balinskis goal -- a one-timer past Joel Hofer that Barkov set up with a pinpoint cross-ice pass.

The Panthers survived a Dmitry Kulikov holding penalty 19 seconds into the third, with a clutch save by Bobrovsky to help kill it off, and then basically took over the rest of the period in every way but the scoreboard.

As a result, the Panthers needed extra time to determine a winner for the second time in six games.

For the first four-plus minutes of that extra period, the Panthers didn’t even sniff a scoring chance.

Then Barkov took over and won the game.