Panthers Breeze By Blues

     The Florida Panthers edged the St. Louis Blues 2-1 in overtime at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday night. The Panthers, who have won nine of their last 12 contests, recently completed a five-game trip against Western Conference opponents. 

     St. Louis(15-16-4) had a 1-0 lead at 10:01 of the first period. Alexandre Texier centered the puck from behind the cage and Oskar Sundqvist backhanded a shot from the left of the crease by Sergei Bobrovsky for his third goal of the year. 

     Florida(21-11-2) came back to tie it 1-1 with 9:02 left in the second period. Matthew Tkachuk backhanded a pass from the left point. Aleksander Barkov connected a cross-ice pass and Uvis Balinskis snapped a shot from the low right circle past Joel Hofer for his first goal this year. 

     The Panthers would win the game on a 4-on-3 power-play tally with 16.2 seconds remaining in overtime. Barkov collected his 10th goal of the campaign on a delayed snap shot from the top right circle. Aaron Ekblad and Sam Reinhart were credited with assists on the play.