The Florida Panthers maintained its tenuous hold on first place in the Atlantic Division with a defensively dominating 3-0 shutout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Amerant Bank Arena, extending its current winning streak to five games.
Sam Reinhart scored a first period power-play goal and added two assists and Aleksander Barkov notched an empty-netter and set up both Reinhart’s goal and a second period power-play marker from rookie Mackie Samsokevich.
Aaron Ekblad drew the secondary assist on Reinhart’s goal and Sam Bennett got the second helper on Barkov’s clincher. Bennett is the sixth Panther to hit 40 points this season.
The Cats made Sergei Bobrovsky’s night a rather easy one, limiting Columbus to a mere 16 shots on goal, as the veteran keeper posted his fourth shutout of the campaign.
Bobrovksy has only given up one goal, to Tampa Bay’s Braydon Point, in the last three games.
The Panthers will conclude its five-game homestand on Saturday when they play host to the Buffalo Sabres.
- Reinhart (32) from Barkov (41) and Ekblad (29) PPG
- Samoskevich (11) from Barkov (42) and Reinhart (34) PPG
- Barkov (17) from Reinhart (35) and Bennett (19) ENG
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