The Panthers won their 50th game of the season for just the second time in franchise history. They accomplished that feat back in 2021-22. Columbus(26-42-12) has the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
Florida(50-24-6) put in their first shot on goal in the contest just 47 seconds into the opening period for a 1-0 lead. Nick Cousins sent a rink-wide pass inside his own blue line to Oliver Ekman-Larsson. He connected a diagonal pass in the neutral zone. Matthew Tkachuk then snapped a shot from the top right circle for his 26th goal of the season.
In the second period, the Cats scored twice for a three-goal margin. Evan Rodrigues carried the puck into the left corner and sent a cross-ice pass to Aleksander Barkov in the low right circle. He returned the puck and Rodrigues placed in a forehand shot from the blue paint for his 12th goal in 2023-24 with 2:35 remaining. Eetu Luostarinen was credited with the secondary assist on the play.
It became 3-0 with 53.2 seconds to go. Barkov passed the loose puck from the end wall. Sam Reinhart collected his 54th goal of the season when he released a wrist shot from the right-circle dot. Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe have a combined 87 goals in one season by two Florida teammates. They tied the franchise record held by Pavel Bure and Ray Whitney in 1999-2000.
The Panthers made it 4-0 with 2:17 left in the third period. Gustav Forsling took a shot from the right point which was saved. Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 23rd goal this season on a backhand shot from the right of the crease.
No comments:
Post a Comment