Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Panthers Defeat Blackhawks Again

     The Florida Panthers completed the back end of a two-game set against the Chicago Blackhawks and were victorious 5-4 in overtime on Tuesday night at BB&T Center. The Panthers play their next six games on the road and will not play in Sunrise again until February 4. 
     Florida(2-0-0) moved out in front 1-0 with 6:35 left in the first period. Anthony Duclair cleared the the puck out of the Panthers zone and Alekander Barkov pushed a short lead pass in the neutral zone. Carter Verhaeghe went into the Blackhawks zone on a breakaway and beat Kevin Lankinen, who made his NHL debut, with a backhand shot. It was the first goal for Verhaeghe with Florida. 
     The Panthers expanded it to 2-0 on the power play with 3:44 left in the opening frame. Keith Yandle took a shot from the top of the zone which was saved, however Patric Hornqvist poked in the rebound from the blue paint. Aaron Ekblad was credited with a secondary assist on the play. 
     Chicago(0-3-1) responded with a power-play goal with 1:20 to go. Duncan Keith fed a pass and Dominik Kubalik took a one-time slap shot from above the top right circle past Sergei Bobrovsky. 
     In the second period, Panthers increased it to 3-1 at the 2:45 mark. Verhaeghe angled a pass from the left-wing boards in the neutral zone to Duclair at the blue line. He skated on goal and Lankinen made the save. Verhaeghe hustled to the crease area and put the puck into the cage for his second goal of the contest.  
     The Blackhawks would score on the man advantage again with a same similar play like they did on their first goal. Lucas Wallmark won a faceoff in the left circle, Keith sent the puck from the top left circle and Kubalik fired a one-time slapshot from the top right circle at 8:05. 
     Patrick Kane was awarded a penalty shot with 5:32 left and attempted to tie the game. He slowly skated through the Panthers zone, released a forehand shot and Bobrovsky stopped him.
     That result did not matter because Kane eventually scored with 49.9 seconds remaining in the second. Connor Murphy connected a pass and Kane brought the puck from the red line down the right side. He entered the Panthers zone, went through the right circle and roofed a backhand shot for his second goal of the campaign. 
      Chicago got their first lead in any game this season at the 6:06 mark and led 4-3.  Kubalik forwarded a pass from the Hawks blue line to Philipp Kurashev and he scored on a wrist shot from the high slot.
     Florida answered back with a power-play goal at 7:17 to even it up 4-4. Jonathan Huberdeau moved the puck to Yandle and he smacked a slap shot from the top of the zone. Hornqvist redirected the puck from the crease area for the tying goal and his second tally of the game. 
     The Panthers won the contest with 2:10 left in overtime. MacKenzie Weegar set the play up at the blue line, Barkov sent a cross-ice pass from the left circle and Frank Vatrano pounded in a one-time shot from the right circle.  

No comments:

Post a Comment