Panthers Stung By Blue Jackets

     The Florida Panthers lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in overtime at BB&T Center on Saturday night. It was the only home game for the Panthers during an eight-game stretch. Chris Wideman played in his first Panthers game since he was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers on December 30.
     Columbus(24-14-3) broke out to a 1-0 lead at the 1:37 mark of the first period. Alexander Wennberg made a long lead pass from the neutral zone to Anthony Duclair at the Panthers blue line. He skated in to the low slot and put in a snap shot by James Reimer.
     Florida(17-16-7) tied the contest 1-1 with 6:41 remaining in the first. Keith Yandle the puck on the left wing and centered it to the low slot. Aleksander Barkov touched the puck with a backhand to his right and Jonathan Huberdeau scored on a wrist shot from the right of the crease. It was Yandle's 500th point in his NHL career.
     The Panthers capitalized on a turnover at center ice and moved ahead 2-1 with 1:51 left. Ryan Murray made a cross-ice pass on the red line that was intercepted by Mike Hoffman. He skated into the Columbus zone to the top left circle and blasted a slap shot past Sergei Bobrovsky for his 20th goal of the season. It was the fifth straight season that Hoffman has scored at least 20 goals in a season.
     The Blue Jackets evened it up 2-2 with 2:56 to go in the second period. After Josh Anderson was stopped on a breakaway attempt, Boone Jenner snapped a shot from the low slot which was stopped and Anderson put in the rebound from the right edge of the blue paint.
     In the third period, Columbus scored on a 4-on-4 goal at 6:58. Mike Matheson had the puck stolen at the left point by Brandon Dubinsky. He skated down the ice with a 2-on-1 breakaway and scored on a wrist shot from the right circle.
     The Cats tied ii 3-3 with 2:13 left in the third. Aaron Ekblad carried the puck through the neutral zone and angled a pass to Jared McCann on the left wing. He returned the puck to Ekblad in the low left circle and he scored on a soft backhand shot. Ekblad tied Robert Svehla for the franchise record with most career goals by a defenseman with 61.
     It was a quick overtime period as Columbus ended the contest 18 seconds in. Artemi Panarin sent to puck off to Pierre Luc-Dubois on the left side. He was on one knee in the low left circle when he centered a pass and Seth Jones snapped home a shot to win the game.