The Panthers now have a season-high, six-game winning streak. Florida will head out of town for their longest road trip of the season to play their next six games.
It was just the second time that the Panthers played on Easter Sunday this century. They hosted and lost to the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 on April 5, 2015.
The Cats have a 2-1-1 all-time record on Easter. They did top the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 at Miami Arena on April 16, 1995. The Panthers tied against the Devils in New Jersey 5-5 on April 12, 1998.
After a scoreless first period for the second straight game, Florida(26-9-4) moved ahead 1-0 at the 1:52 mark of the second period. MacKenzie Weegar pushed the puck from the left point to Patric Hornqvist in the high slot. He squared a pass to his right and Aleksander Barkov fired a one-time slap shot from just above the right circle past Joonas Korpisalo for his 14th goal of the season. All three players picked up points for their second straight contest.
In the third period, the Panthers scored at 8:00 to make it a two-goal cushion. Frank Vatrano carried the puck into the offensive zone and ripped a snap shot from the top left circle for his 13th goal this year. Vatrano expanded his goal streak to three games.
Columbus(14-8-8) surrendered another goal with 7:20 remaining in the third. Barkov sent a cross-ice pass from the right wing and Gustav Forsling released a wrist shot from the top left circle for his third goal of the campaign and extended his point streak to four games. Weegar got his second assist of the contest on the play.
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