The Florida Panthers took down the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Saturday night. With three goals scored in the 2nd period, Florida was able to win the game. In addition, Alexander Barkov scored two goals and had an assist in the win, providing the much-needed spark on offense.
Game Recap
Chicago dominated the first period, and outshot Florida 14-6. However, no pucks found their way into the back of the net. Brandon Hagel set the tone to begin the second period, when he scored a goal 28 seconds into the period. Barkov, Verhaeghe, and Vatrano responded to Hagel’s goal, all scoring their 10th goals of the season. The Panthers outshot Chicago in the second period, 13-10, and ended the period leading 3-1. In the final frame, each team scored a goal (Barkov for Florida, and Boqvist for Chicago).
Anthony Duclair on Barkov: “He’s elite. One of the best two-way forwards I’ve ever played with. Very happy to be playing with him.”
Sergei Bobrovsky is now 11-2-2 after stopping 30 out of 32 shots in Saturday’s win. Over his last seven starts, he has a .921 SV%.
Bobrovsky: “You’re building. You go out and your mind becomes more and more relaxed. You see the game better, more clearly, and you feel comfortable more and more.”
Takeaways
- Florida won their first game of the season in their Reverse Retro jerseys.
- The Panthers are now 18-5-4 with 40 points in 27 games. This ties the franchise record in 1996-97 for least amount of games to accumulate 40 points.
- Florida won 2/3 of face-offs, which is 10th best this season by a team in a single game. Additionally, this was the best game this season in the face-off circle for Florida.
- The Panthers are now 3-0 vs. Chicago this season.
- Florida extends their win streak to three games.
- Saturday night marks the 2nd game in a row in which Florida has scored three goals in a span of less than 10 minutes.
- Florida honored Keith Yandle’s 1000 games prior to puck drop.
Up Next
Florida will look to improve to 4-0 on the season vs. Chicago on Monday night. Puck drop is at 7:00 PM at the BB&T Center, in Sunrise, Florida. The 18-5-4 Panthers will look to push in front of the 19-5-2 Lightning for first in the Central Division.