Panthers Bash Wild

     Sam Montembault picked up his first NHL victory and Aleksander Barkov broke a franchise record with five assists in a game as the Florida Panthers smashed the Minnesota Wild 6-2 on Friday night at BB&T Center. The Panthers ended a six-game winless streak with the victory. The Wild lost a contest in regulation for the first time in nine games.
     Florida(29-27-12) took just over a minute in to lead 1-0. Evengii Dadonov had the puck in the left corner and Barkov got the puck. He made a pass from behind the Wild cage to Jonathan Huberdeau and he quickly released a wrist shot past Devan Dubnyk.
     The Panthers thought they extended the margin by two goals with 8:42 left in the first period on an Aaron Ekblad goal with a backhand shot from the slot area, however it was reviewed and the Cats were offside.
     They increased their lead to 2-0 with 3:09 remaining. Barkov sent the puck from the right wing to the right point. MacKenzie Weegar snapped a shot from the right point that went off the backside of a Wild defender to the left of the crease and into the cage.
     Minnesota(33-28-8) would turn the puck over in their own zone which led to another Panthers goal with 1:29 to go. Dadonov backhanded a cross-ice pass at the blue line and Weegar smoked a slapshot for his second goal of the contest and third of the year. Dadonov compiled his third assist of the game on that play. Dubnyk was replaced in net by Alex Stalock at the end of the first period after he allowed three goals on seven Panthers shots.
     In the second period, the Panthers continued their barrage with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at the 3:34 mark. Mike Hoffman got his 31st goal of the season as he powered a one-time slapshot from the top right circle. Barkov and Huberdeau were credited with assists on the play. Hoffman set a career-high with his 14th power-play goal of the campaign.
     The Wild broke the shoutout at 9:02. Eric Fehr reversed the puck from the left-wing boards to Jonas Brodin on the left point. His snap shot was redirected in by J.T. Brown in the crease.
     Florida got it back to a four-goal gap with 2:20 remaining. Huberdeau connected a cross-ice pass from the right circle and Mike Matheson scored on a wrist shot from the left circle.
     Minnesota answered back 15 seconds later to make it 5-2. Montembealt gave away the puck on a clearing pass to the right wing. Nick Seeler fired a slapshot from the left point which was touched by Brown and then by Marcus Foligno in the low slot for a goal.
     The Panthers got a goal during a 4-on-4 situation with 9:37 left in the third period. Barkov skated the puck from the neutral zone, down the right wing and behind the net. He handed the puck off the Matheson in the left circle. Matheson went around the Wild cage and stuffed in a wraparound shot for his second goal of the contest. It was the first time in Florida franchise history that they had multiple defensemen score two goals in a game. Barkov now has 22 points in his last 12 games.