The reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers avoided the dreaded 0-3 series hole on the strength of an overtime goal Friday night to climb back into their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

But for all intents and purposes, Game 3 of their Stanley Cup playoffs second-round series is as close to “must-win” as it can get without officially being one after the Panthers dropped the first two contests in the best-of-7 series.