Sam Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov both scored a goal and tallied two assists each as the Florida Panthers capitalized on the power play Thursday to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 in Sunrise, Fla.
Reinhart’s power-play goal was his 32nd overall for the season and the 153rd in his four years with the Panthers. That allowed him to surpass Hall of Famer Pavel Bure for fifth on the franchise’s all-time list.
Mackie Samoskevich also found the net. Sergei Bobrovsky made 16 saves against his former team for his 423rd career win, tying him with Tony Esposito for 10th in league history.
The defending Stanley Cup champion needed its special teams units for its fifth straight win. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 33 shots for the Blue Jackets, who lost their second straight.
Florida kept Merzlikins busy all game, and aside from the two power-play tallies, he was up to the task. However, the Blue Jackets could not stay out of the penalty box or mount much of an attack.
Columbus drew three minors within the first six minutes of the game. Reinhart found his way into the middle of the Blue Jackets’ diamond penalty kill, scoring from the slot off a pass from Barkov with 14:02 left in the opening period. Aaron Ekblad also assisted on the goal, his fifth straight with a helper.
The Panthers doubled their advantage with 13:26 to go in the second period. Barkov’s shot at the top of the zone hit off the Columbus netminder and right to Samoskevich with a second remaining on the hooking penalty to Boone Jenner.
Barkov got his goal with 2:12 remaining in the game on an empty-netter assisted by Reinhart and Sam Bennett.
Florida outshot Columbus 28-10 through the first two periods. The 16 shots the Blue Jackets mustered Thursday tied a season-low and were the fewest Bobrovsky faced in a complete game.
Florida went 2-for-5 on the power play, scoring multiple power-play goals for the seventh time this season and first Dec. 5. The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, failed on four chances with the advantage.
–Field Level Media
