The Florida Panthers matched a season-high in goals during an impressive 6-3 romp over the Washington Capitals at Amerant Bank Arena in a night chalk full of milestones.
Five Cats finished the tilt with multiple points including Sam Reinhart, who the led the way offensively with two goals and one assist. Eetu Luostarinen scored an empty-net goal and added two assists; Anton Lundell had three helpers; Seth Jones finally found the net and had an assist; and Brad Marchand drew two assists to bring us to the milestones.
Marchand’s second helper of the night, on Luostarinen’s marker, made him the 102nd player in NHL history to reach 1.000 points. He hit the mark in the 1,116th game of his career.
Evan Rodrigues, who replied 28 ticks after Brandon Duhaime opened the scoring at the 8:25 mark, and Seth Jones each notched the 100th goal of their respective careers.
Jones’ goal was his first of the season and came with Florida up a man to make it 5-2 midway through the third. Sticking with the tidy numbers, it was also the 350th assist and 450th point if his career.
Daniil Tarasov collected his first win as a member of the Panthers. The former Blue Jacket continued to shine in the number two role, making 37 saves, with 16 of them coming in a very busy first frame.
I know this is modest, however, returnee Cole Schwindt established a new career-high in goals with his second of the season. Schwindt deflected Gustav Forsling’s shot from the point past Logan Thompson 3:06 into the third to give the Cats a lead they would not relinquish. The 24-year-old had a goal and seven assists with Vegas last season.
Less modest, Forsling’s primary helper on the go-ahead tally was the 200th point of his career. Not too shabby for a waiver claim…
Reinhart’s second goal of the night, a thing of beauty, put Florida back up by two 4:02 after former Panther Justin Sourdif brought the Capitals within a goal early in the third. Reinhart took a centering feed from Lundell, settled it off his skate, pulled the puck away from Dylan Strome and ripped it past Thompson for his tenth of the season.
Rasmus Sandin, who also had an assist, scored the final Washington goal at 12:40 of the third before Luostarinen sealed it with 1:30 remaining on the clock to make Marchand’s night a very special one.
The Panthers hadn’t scored six goals since beating the Ottawa Senators 6-2 on October 11, so it was great to see the floodgates open against the usually stingy Thompson, who came into the game with a 1.56 GAA. Florida beat the Washington keeper five times on 27 shots, went 2-for-5 on the power play, and did a good job staying out of the penalty box, taking just two minors and killing off both. Posting consecutive wins for the first time in over month, the Panthers opened this key run of home games in fine fashion. They’ll try to match their season-high of three wins in a row when they host the hated Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
The Five Hole
- With his brace, First Star Sam Reinhart became the second Panther to hit double-digit goals. Reinhart, who has scored eight times in the last nine games, is now tied with Carolina’s Seth Jarvis and Utah’s Dylan Guenther with a league-leading four game-winners.
- Brad Marchand saw his five-game goal streak come to an end, but the 37-year-old has points in his last nine outings and he is the first Cat to reach 20 points.
- After collecting three apples, Anton Lundell leads the team in assists with ten and is second to Marchand in scoring with 14 points in 17 games.
- In addition to his milestone marker, assist and point, Seth Jones led the Panthers with five shots on goal and four hits.
- Niko Mikkola and Carter Verhaeghe were the other Panthers to get on the score sheet. Mikkola had the primary assist on Evan Rodrigues’ strike and Verhaeghe’s heavy shot created the rebound on Reinhart’s second period power-play goal.
Stat Card
