The Florida Panthers built its first three-game winning streak of the young season with a 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes at Amerant Bank Arena in the first meeting between the clubs since the 2023 Eastern Conference Final.
It took the Panthers until late January to cobble together three wins in a row last season.
The Hurricanes were the ones that opened the scoring, and they did it early. After Jesperi Kotkaniemi dumped the puck in, Sergei Bobrovsky made saves on Jordan Martinook and Jesper Fast before Kotkaniemi buried the third chance at the 1:20 mark.
Florida countered sixy-one seconds later when Carter Verhaeghe collected the puck after Anton Lundell was hauled down and fed Matthew Tkachuk in the slot. Tkachuk pulled Antti Raanta to the ice and finished with a slick backhand-to-forehand move.
Defenseman Uvis Balinskis would notch his first NHL goal to put the Cats ahead with 1:07 left in the frame. Eetu Luostarinen made a cheeky little dish to Tkachuk while taking a hit and he sent the puck over to Balinkis, who punched it home to finish off the 3-on-2 rush in fine fashion. A great moment for the 27-year-old Latvian, who was playing in his 11th game in the league.
The Panthers went up by a pair 7:08 into the second stanza. Sam Reinhart made a short pass to Evan Rodrigues after retrieveing the puck on the right boards. Rodrigues then fired a quick shot from the right circle that Raanata denied, but the rebound went right to Aleksander Barkov in the other circle and he did not miss.
Sebastian Aho pulled one back for Carolina at 16:40, potting the rebound after Martinook tipped Brady Skjei’s shot from the left point on Bobrovksy. The visitors did a good job of pinning the Panthers in their own zone to earn the goal which came quickly after Dmitry Kulikov’s clearing attempt was knocked down along the boards.
Breathing room was restored with 6:42 remaining in regulation when Verhaeghe, who went to the left circle following a faceoff, deflected Gustav Forsling rising shot from the point down and into net. The goal was initially waved off, then awarded after going to video review.
After Reinhart took a pass from Barkov and pushed a long backhand attempt wide of the empty net, Kevin Stenlund slapped the puck in from a sharp angle to complete the scoring at 16:18.
That was one of, if not the most impressive win of the 2023-24 campaign thus far. The Cats quickly responded to the Hurricanes opening salvo and once they got the lead, they did not relinquish it. Florida out-shot Carolina, who came in winners of five of their last six, 35-30, blocked 23 shots and killed off all three of the Hurricanes power-play chances without allowing a shot. Good stuff from a team that is now 6-1-1 in its last eight outings.
Squalls & Shutters
- Florida’s big guns delivered last night with Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaghe each registereding a goal and an assist. Leading scorer Sam Reinhart contributed two helpers.
- Barkov’s second period tally, the eventual game-winner, gave the captain goals in three straight games. He led all skaters with five shots on goal.
- Sergei Bobrovsky’s 28-save effort earned him his fourth straight victory. Bobrovksy (7-3-1) lowered his GAA to 2.65 and upped his save percentage to .907.
- Antti Raanta, who stopped 30 shots, saw his three-game winning streak come to an end.
- Gustav Forsling finished with an assist, two shots and two hits. He was the only Cat to go plus-three in the game.
- Category Five Hockey will have the other side of Florida’s fourth win over an opponent from the Metropolitan Division.