The Florida Panthers demolished the Columbus Blue Jackets 9-2 on Saturday. Florida now has the best record in the NHL, and improves to 21-3 at home.
Period by Period Summary
Florida dominated this game from the get-go, and didn’t look back. Less than a minute in, Carter Verhaeghe scored the first of many goals Saturday night. Over a minute later, Anthony Duclair scored a one-timer to give the Cats an early 2-0 lead. Later on in the frame, MacKenzie Weegar scored a shorthanded goal for his 100th career NHL point. Verhaeghe would then notch his second goal of the game to make it 4-0. That chased goalie Elvis Merzlikins from net, who allowed four goals on only 15 shots faced.
In the second period, with Joonas Korpisalo in net, Jonathan Huberdeau scored at 2:02. Anton Lundell would add yet another Panthers goal at 12:10, making it 6-0.
In the third period, Columbus finally responded, ending Bobrovsky’s shutout. It was Gustav Nyquist with the power-play goal. However, Florida responded a minute later with Sam Bennett scoring his 15th of the season to make it 7-1. Anton Lundell then scored his second of the game at 7:33, making it 8-1. As if the seven-goal lead wasn’t already enough, Patric Hornqvist made it 9-1 at 10:14. Boone Jenner of the Blue Jackets scored 36 seconds later at 10:50 for the 9-2 final.
Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and assist, extending his career-long point streak to eight games. Huberdeau also currently leads the NHL with 53 points.
Up Next
The Panthers will travel to Calgary to face the Flames on Tuesday night. The Flames are currently on a four-game losing streak.