The Florida Panthers bounced back in a big way on Saturday night after suffering consecutive losses earlier this week.
Welcoming the NHL’s top team, the Winnipeg Jets, to South Florida, the Panthers showed how well they can turn the page from a rough patch, coming up with a resounding 5-0 victory.
As the game got going, one thing was quite clear: there were two Vezina Trophy-winning goaltenders between the pipes, and each were playing like it.
Sergei Bobrovsky and Connor Hellebuyck each had to make big, high danger saves during the game’s opening minutes, setting the tone for what felt like a playoff game in Sunrise.
A great all-around play in the offensive zone by rookie Mackie Samoskevich led to the opening goal of the game.
After checking Josh Morrissey as the puck went into Winnipeg’s zone, Samoskevich went to the net and deflected a pass from Gus Forsling past Connor Hellebuyck to give Florida a 1-0 lead.
It was the first time in four games that the Panthers opening the scoring.
Florida would extend their advantage early in the second period thanks to a former Jet.
Nate Schmidt popped home a rebound shot after a great rush and shot by Sam Bennett created the scoring opportunity for Florida.
A pair of Panthers goals later in the period would send the home team into the second intermission with a 4-0 lead.
First it was Evan Rodrigues cashing in on a Sasha Barkov rebound, and then Barkov picked up a goal of his own just over two minutes later when he finished a shorthanded rush by netting a Sam Reinhart goalpost rebound.
Barkov picked up his third point of the game when he sent a perfect cross-zone pass to a streaking Dmitry Kulikov while the team were skating four-on-four early in the third.
On to Winnipeg, but in their barn this time.
QUICK THOUGHTS
Winnipeg entered Saturday as the NHL’s highest scoring team, with 74 goals through 17 games.
Bobrovsky finished with 27 saves for his first shutout of the season.
Reinhart extended his point streak to 10 games with an assist on Schmidt’s goal. He added another two apples on the night and is now up to eight goals and 15 points during the run.
Speaking of point streaks, Barkov’s run is now at eight games after he logged a goal and two assists on Saturday. He’s racked up three goals and 16 points during the streak.
Samoskevich has now scored three times over his past seven outings.
Kulikov has scored twice over his past four games and is up to three goals on the season. He had one goal all of last season and only three the year before.
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