Panthers Scoot By Blackhawks

     The Florida Panthers pushed by the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 at United Center. The Panthers finished off and swept a three-game road swing. 

     The Cats concluded a stretch in which they played nine of their past 10 games on the road. The Blackhawks are playing their 100th season in the National Hockey League. 

     There was no scoring by either team during the opening frame. Florida(28-20-3) made it 1-0 with 4:27 remaining in the second period when Tobias Bjornfot placed in a wraparound forehand shot by Spencer Knight for his first tally this year. It was Bjornfot's first NHL goal since the 2020-21 season and his second career goal. Cole Schwindt was credited with the only assist on the play.

     Chicago(21-23-8) tied it up 1-1 with 29.3 seconds left in the second. Wyatt Kaiser intercepted the puck at the left point and zipped a pass across. Ilya Mikheyev fired a shot from the top right circle which was saved by Daniil Tarasov. Tyler Bertuzzi put in the rebound shot from the top of the crease for his 25th goal of the campaign. It was just the second time that Bertuzzi reached the 25-goal plateau. 

     In the third period. the Panthers regained the lead 2-1 at the 5:20 mark. Gustav Forsling dumped the puck in from the red line around the end wall. Mackie Samoskevich stopped it on the right wing and took a wrist shot from the right-circle dot for his fifth goal in 2025-26. 

     The Cats expanded their lead to 3-1 at 7:24 of the third. Forsling sent a long lead pass from his own zone. Evan Rodrigues carried the puck into the Blackhawks zone and centered the puck from the left circle. Carter Verhaeghe scored his 15th goal this season on a wrist shot from the high slot. 

     The Blackhawks pulled their goalie for an extra attacker with 2:55 to go. Reinhart backhanded a shot from the neutral zone into an empty net for his 26th goal of the season and gave the Panthers a 4-1 lead with 1:49 remaining. He became the first player in Florida Panthers history to have at least 50 points in his first five seasons with the team. Rodrigues and Aaron Ekblad picked up assists on the sequence. 

     Florida added another goal with 22 seconds left in the period to make it 5-1. Anton Lundell angled a pass to his right from the neutral zone. Verhaeghe made a diagonal pass from the top of the zone and Bjornfot chalked up his second goal of the contest on a forehand shot from the left circle.