The Florida Panthers continued to dominate on home-ice, winning their fourth straight against the Calgary Flames, 6-2. Patric Hornqvist had a two-goal showing, while Carter Verhaeghe and Brandon Montour each had multiple assists. Sergei Bobrovsky also stopped a season-high 47 shots on his way to a win.
First Period:
Florida would draw a penalty 4:52 into the game when Noah Hanifin hooked Gustav Forsling. The power play looked very impressive early on, as the Panthers would draw first blood when Jonathan Huberdeau would set up a pass to Patric Hornqvist, who would knock it in past Jacob Markstrom. A little over a minute later, the Flames would tie it at one when Johnny Gaudreau would split the Panthers defense by skating in on a breakaway, and eventually burying a wrister past Sergei Bobrovsky. Calgary would take a 2-1 lead with 10:04 gone in the first period when former Tampa Bay Lightning forward Blake Coleman skated behind the net and fired a quick wrister past Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Panthers would tie the game at two just under three minutes later when Gustav Forsling would fire high and deflect off of Anthony Duclair past Markstrom. The Panthers would draw its second power play of the game when Brett Ritchie would hold Anthony Duclair. Once again, the Panthers would retake the lead on the power play when a shot by Brandon Montour deflected into Joe Thornton, who positioned it perfectly into the crease and past Markstrom again.
Simply, the first period was aggressive. Hits were occurring everywhere.
Second Period:
There were a total of 37 shots in the second period (21 by Florida and 16 by Calgary) which meant for an awesome goaltender show in the second. Ryan Lomberg (the Lomberghini) would increase the Panthers lead to 4-2 against his former team when he would snap the puck from the face-off circle through Jacob Markstrom’s five-hole. It was Lomberg’s third goal of the season.
Third Period:
Patric Hornqvist would extend the lead to 5-2 when he would take advantage of a Flames turnover on the blueline, and found open ice to find twine. Carter Verhaeghe would give the puck to Lucas Carlsson, who would shoot it to give the Panthers the final (sixth) goal of the night.
Takeaways:
- Bobrovsky’s previous high this season for saves was 43. It was the fourth time in his career that he stopped at least 47 shots — and ended the game stopping the last 41 shots that he saw.
- With Calgary’s loss at FLA Live Arena on Tuesday night, it gave the Edmonton Oilers the best point percentage in the arena.
- It was Markstrom’s first game on Florida’s ice since Feb. 6, 2018, for Vancouver. He played in 20 games between 2011 and 2013 at FLA Live Arena, when he was with the Panthers.
- Duclair has four goals in his last four games.
- Montour also had three assists on Dec. 12, 2018, for Anaheim against Dallas.
Next Up:
Calgary will continue its road trip to Tampa Bay, while the Panthers will go to Dallas on Thursday night.
(Featured image by Lynne Sladky/AP)