Matthew Tkachuk scored his second goal of the game with 12 seconds left in regulation to lift the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center.
Hometown boy Tkachuk also set up Florida’s first goal and scored the second to nab First Star honors.
The game opened with a bout between revenge-seeking Jake Neighbours and Sam Bennett. Young Mr. Neighbours did stand up for himself for the high hit he took in the first meeting between the two teams in December, but in doing so, took a few hard shots to the face from an aggravated Bennett, who more than held his own.
Once they got to playing hockey, the Blues earned the first goal at 3:31 when Zack Bolduc outbattled Anton Lundell in front to backhand home his own rebound following Ryan Suter’s shot from the left point. Alexey Toropchenko was credited with the secondary assist.
The Panthers fought back 3:38 later to even the score. After Mackie Samoskevich sent a one-timer off the outside of the post, he regathered and crossed from left to right to Tkachuk, who crossed back to Bennett in the right circle. Bennett’s wrister found the back of the net with the help of the back of Samoskevich’s leg. It was the rookie’s first goal of 2025.
Tkachuk gave the Cats the lead with 3:06 left in the frame when he deflected Aaron Ekblad’s shot from the right point by Joel Hofer with Pavel Buchnevich off for holding. Ekblad took the shot after Tkachuk and Barkov combined to work the puck back to the defenseman.
St. Louis would reply with a power-play marker of their own 5:18 into second. Robert Thomas took a centering pass from Bolduc and was looking back door for Buchnevich. Instead, his pass was redirected in by Oscar Sundqvist, evening the score at two apiece. Sundqvist drew the interference call on Eetu Luostarinen that gave the Blues the man-advantage.
It looked like the fine goaltending of Hofer and Spencer Knight would bring the game to overtime, but Florida’s big guns had a different outcome in mind.
With regulation time running out, a determined Barkov found Sam Reinhart in the left circle and after his initial attempt was blocked by Colton Parayko and then bounced off Cam Fowler, Reinhart took a second swipe and the puck struck Tkachuk on its way past Hofer to give the Panthers the win.
The Cats did a good job of not getting frustrated and sticking with the script to earn a big two points in St. Louis. They out-shot the Blues 34-22, but for the second time this season, had a hard time getting the puck past Hofer. Knight (20 saves) delivered another solid start to collect his 11th win of the campaign as the Cats went 1-1 on the road trip. Florida will return home to face the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night in its final game before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
Sharps & Flats
- Matthew Tkachuk has racked up six goals and10 points during a torrid five-game goal/point streak and has amassed 28 points in 20 career games against the Blues.
- After missing the last three games due to illness, Mackie Samoskevich returned to score his first goal since December 30. Unfortunately, Samoskevich left the game early in the second stanza and did not return.
- Joel Hofer, who finished with 31 saves, including a first period gem on A.J. Greer, took a second-straight hard luck to the Panthers. Hofer limited the Cats to two goals in an overtime loss in Sunrise earlier this season.
- Finishing with two helpers, Aleksander Barkov has put up multiple points in three of his last four games. Barkov was credited with one hit and one block and won 57.1% of his faceoffs.
- 40-year-old defenseman Ryan Suter played in his 1,499th NHL game, tying Mike Modano for 22nd all-time. In addition to his assist, Suter had a shot on goal and a block.
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