Justin Sourdif scored his first NHL goal and Sam Bennett notched a goal and an assist to lead the Florida Panthers to a 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.
Bennett opened the scoring with a power-play goal 1:32 into the game, finishing off a pretty passing involving Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart. Barkov collected a loose puck after Carter Verhaeghe was knocked to the ice and found Reinhart all alone in front of the net. Reinhart sent a back door to pass to Bennett, who tucked it into the back of the yawning net.
Sourdif completed a give-and-go off the rush with Jesper Boqvist 4:21 into the second for his first goal as a Panther. Justin Barron got a piece of Boqvist’s return pass, but the puck still got through to Sourdif and he went upstairs on Juuse Saros. The second assist on the eventual game-winner was credited to Niko Mikkola, who set a new career-high with his 15th helper.
Michael McCarron put the Predators on the board at the 4:30 mark of the third. Spencer Knight easily blocked off Colton Sissons sharp-angle shot, but McCarron was left unmarked in front and got his second backhand swipe to go in. Cole Smith earned the second assist with a bounce pass off the boards to send Sissons away.
Gustav Forsling restored Florida’s two-goal advantage 4:32 later, beating a screened Saros from the left half-boards after Aaron Ekblad took drop a pass off the wall from Barkov at the right point and missed his shot wide.
After having a goal scrubbed against Seattle, rookie Mackie Samoskevich completed the scoring with his ninth of the season. With the teams skating 4-on-4, Bennett crashed into Nick Blankenburg below the goal line, took possession of the puck and perfectly fed Samoskevich, who went to the backhand to solve Saros with 4:26 remaining in regulation. The goal came 1:29 after Anton Lundell had one disallowed due to goalie interference. Take that, zebras!
This was the Panthers final road game against a Western Conference foe and they delivered a very solid effort that resulted in some nice goals and a relatively easy outing for Spencer Knight, who only faced 19 shots. Unfortunately, Toronto rallied from three-down to beat Boston 5-4 in overtime, so the Cats remain in second place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the Buds, who hold a game in hand. Florida will open a five-game homestand on Thursday against the reeling Edmonton Oilers.
Claws & Fangs
- Justin Sourdif earned First Star honors for first NHL goal, which turned out to be the game-winner. Playing in his fourth big-league tilt, the 22-year-old registered two shots and finished plus-one in 9:27 TOI while filling in for Eetu Luostarinen.
- After producing a goal and assist, Sam Bennett is a marker away from his second-straight 20-goal campaign and three points away from a fourth-straight forty-point season. Bennett fought Cole Smith in the third to end his night with a “Gordie Howe hat trick.”
- Aleksander Barkov collected two secondary helpers, reaching the 40-assist mark for the seventh time in his career. Barkov has five multi-point outings in his last ten games.
- Nashville’s Michael McCarron scored for the first time in 33 games. The last time he lit the lamp was on November 14, against Edmonton. It was his third goal of the season.
- Spencer Knight has won three-consecutive starts and improved his career record against the Predators to 3-0. Knight is now 12-8-1 with a 2.40 GAA and .907 save percentage.
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