Panthers Push By Blue Jackets

     The Florida Panthers disposed of the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 at Nationwide Arena on Sunday. It was the start of a five-game road trip for the Panthers, who have won three straight contests. Sam Reinhart finished with a career-high four assists in the game. 

     Florida(17-8-2) raced out to a 1-0 lead just 62 seconds into the first period. Gustav Forsling snapped a shot for his third goal this season. 

     Columbus(9-16-5) tied it 1-1 at the 7:06 mark when Yegor Chinakhov got his sixth tally of the year on a snap shot. 

     The Cats made it 2-1 in a matter of 22 seconds later. Carter Verhaeghe collected his 13th goal of the season on a deflected shot. There was no scoring by either club during the second period. 

     In the third period, the Panthers got a power-play goal as Aleksander Barkov poked in a shot at 13:13 for his 10th goal of the campaign. 

     The Blue Jackets closed it to 3-1 with 3:49 left in the third. Dmirti Voronkov placed in a wrist shot for his sixth goal in 2023-24. 

     Florida picked up two empty-net goal in the final moments of the game for a 5-3 lead. Matthew Tkachuk chalked up his fifth goal of the year with 55 seconds to go and Eetu Luostarinen got his fourth tally this year with one second remaining.