The Florida Panthers got back in the win column for the first time since before the 4 Nations break.
Playing in Nashville for the only time this season, the Panthers took an early lead and never relinquished it, skating to a 4-1 victory on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena.
An early delay of game penalty on the home team would lead to Florida’s opening goal.
With the puck on his stick at the side of the net, Sam Reinhart cut to the slot and drove for the far post.
Instead of shooting, though, Reinhart fed a pass back to a trailing Sam Bennett who had a wide-open net to guide the puck into.
The score would remain 1-0 until early in the second period.
Justin Sourdif, playing in just his fourth NHL game after being called up from AHL Charlotte on Monday, made a nice move to cut into Nashville’s zone and after a quick give-and-go with Jesper Boqvist, deflected a pass over Juuse Saros’ glove for his first NHL goal.
Florida held their 2-0 lead until 4:30 into the third period when Michael McCarron wheeled around on the doorstep and fired two backhand shots at Panthers goalie Spencer Knight.
He stopped the first shot but the McCarron’s rebound attempt slipped underneath Knight’s pads, cutting the Cats lead in half with plenty of time left.
A sneaky shot by Gus Forsling off the half boards that may have gone off Ryan O’Reilly on its way past Saros restored the Panthers two-goal lead with just under 11 minutes to go.
Mackie Samoskevich scored a pretty goal in the final minutes that came off a great steal and pass by Bennett to seal the victory.
Credit to Bennett, who completed himself a nice Gordie Howe hat trick after fighting Cole Smith earlier in the period.
Overall, it was a solid victory for the Cats from start to finish.
On to a Stanley Cup rematch with the Oilers.
QUICK THOUGHTS
Bennett has scored goals in three of Florida’s past five games, and he’s racked up six goals over his past 12 outings overall.
Reinhart has picked up assists in seven of his past eight games, accumulating 10 points during that span.
Sasha Barkov logged a pair of assists, giving him 13 points over his past eight games.
Sourdif’s first NHL goal came on his third NHL shot. It also stood up as the game-winning goal for Florida.
Niko Mikkola set a new career high with his 15th assist of the season, one game after he set a new career high for points (18).
Mikkola also set a new career high in goals (4) earlier this season.
Aaron Ekblad has quietly put up seven points over his past 10 games. He assisted on Forsling’s goal.
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