Sergei Bobrovsky pitched a 21-save shutout for the visiting Florida Panthers in a 4-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
Four players scored, and Evan Rodrigues, Matt Benning and Sam Bennett each had two assists for the Panthers (34-31-3, 71 points), who split the two-game season series. Florida, which halted a two-game skid, had lost six of its last nine and is well out of the running for a playoff berth.
Florida defeated Edmonton each of the last two seasons in the Stanley Cup Final.
For Bobrovsky, it was his fourth shutout of the season and 53rd of his career. With his 454th career win, he tied Curtis Joseph for seventh in NHL history.
Connor Ingram made 19 saves for the Oilers (34-27-9, 77 points), who have dropped three of their last six games (3-2-1). With the loss, Edmonton remained one point behind Pacific Division-leading Anaheim.
Cole Reinhardt put Florida up 1-0 at 11:12 of the first period when Benning set him up for a wrist shot. A.J. Greer added to the lead to make it 2-0 with 58 seconds left in the period when he tipped Benning’s long shot through traffic.
Anton Lindell made it 3-0 at 14:21 of the second period on a power play. Bennett’s shot got stopped in traffic, and Lindell gathered the loose puck and scored on a snap shot.
Carter Verhaeghe extended the lead to 4-0 at 15:23 of the third period when he collected Matthew Tkachuk’s rebound and scored.
Oilers forward Trent Frederic left after the second period with a undisclosed injury and did not return.
Florida wraps up a four-game road trip at Calgary on Friday, while Edmonton concludes a four-game homestand Saturday against Tampa Bay.
–Field Level Media
