On Friday night, the Florida Panthers defeated the Arizona Coyotes 3-1 for their 18th win on the season. Florida sits atop the Atlantic Division with a 18-4-4 record, and two points in front of Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, the Coyotes hold an abysmal 5-19-2 record, which is the worst in the league.
Game Recap
Arizona received the first advantage of the game in the form of a power play. Due to an Aaron Ekblad hooking penalty, the Coyotes went a man up, but could not score. Hornqvist scored the first goal of the game 9:05 in, to give Florida a 1-0 advantage. Ten seconds later, Sam Bennett gave Florida two on the board. Later in the period, Hornqvist took a tripping penalty. Phil Kessel capitalized to narrow Florida’s lead to one. Shortly after, Arizona’s Jay Beagle found his way into the box. Sam Reinhart capitalized to return the lead to two. The first ended 3-1, with a 10-8 shot lead for the Panthers.
The second period’s scoresheet began with a Weegar penalty nearly seven minutes in. Arizona could not capitalize, however. Following the penalty, Wedgewood, Arizona’s goalie, made a best friend with the post, after it stopped a pair of shots. To end the period, the Panthers took another penalty while the Coyotes took two. Neither team could score on their man advantages.
In the third period, each team took a penalty but once again neither team could score on the power play. With around three minutes left, Arizona pulled their goalie in a last-ditch effort for a point. In the final frame, the Coyotes lead the shots 6-4 while no goals were scored. As the clock struck zero, the Panthers were victorious 3-1. Florida has won the season series vs. Arizona 2-0. In this win, Florida is the first team to forty points.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 out of 23 shots for a .957 save percentage. Also, Aaron Ekblad recorded 24:53 minutes of ice time and an assist.
Up Next
The Panthers wrap up their three-game road trip on Sunday night in Colorado. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00 PM EST at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
(Featured image by Ross D. Franklin/AP)