Tarasenko Leads Panthers Over Flames

     The Florida Panthers downed the Calgary Flames 5-1 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday. The Panthers have been victorious in seven of their last eight games and 17 of their previous 20 contests.

     Aaron Ekblad took over second place in Florida Panthers franchise history as he played in his 672nd game. He passed former teammate Jonathan Huberdeau, who played in today's game with the Flames. 

     After a scoreless first period, Vladimir Tarasenko picked up his first goal in a Panthers uniform 23 seconds into the second frame for a 1-0 lead. Huberdeau passed the puck from his own left corner and it was intercepted by Tarasenko in the left circle. He then put in a wrist shot from the top of the crease for his 18th goal of the season. 

     Calgary(31-27-5) evened it up 1-1 at 5:51 of the period with the man advantage. Andrei Kuzmenko backhanded a pass from the low left circle. Nazem Kadri ripped a point-blank shot from the low slot which was saved by Anthony Stolarz. Yegor Sharangovich followed and snapped a shot from the right of the crease for his 26th goal in 2023-24. It was his third tally and fifth point in the last two contests.

     It became 2-1 for Florida(44-17-4) at the 6:19 mark of the second. Tarasenko angled a pass from the neutral zone and Sam Reinhart got to it to the left circle. He connected a cross-ice pass and Aleksander Barkov blasted a one-time slap shot from the inner right circle by Jacob Markstrom for his 16th goal of the campaign. 

     The Cats extended it to 3-1 with 6:48 to go as a couple of former Flames got on the scoresheet. Matthew Tkachuk made a backhand pass from the left point. Gustav Forsling fired a slap shot from the top of the zone and Sam Bennett deflected it in from the crease area for his 15th goal this season. 

     Florida increased it to a three-goal margin with 5:05 remaining in the second. Oliver Ekman-Larsson angled a pass back from the left wing. Forsling sent a diagonal pass from the top of the zone. Tarasenko scored his second goal of the game with a snap shot from the right circle. 

     In the third period, the Panthers added a shorthanded goal at 4:30 to make it 5-1. Eetu Luostarinen fed a pass in the high slot and Kevin Stenlund scored his 10th of the season on a wrist shot from the left circle.