Panthers pick up resounding win over struggling Avalanche
Sergei Bobrovsky was excellent for Florida, logging his third shutout of the season
The Florida Panthers made quite a statement on Saturday night in Sunrise.
Hosting the Colorado Avalanche, one of the top teams in the NHL, Florida was dominant from start to finish, earning a decisive 4-0 victory.
Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was start from the start after called upon to make several key saves in the game’s opening minutes, three of which came on an early Avalanche power play.
Three of Bob’s first five saves were on high danger shots, according to Natural Stat Trick, and he’d finish the first period with an eye-popping seven high danger saves.
Bobrovsky’s early heroics allowed the Panthers to take a 1-0 lead on a Carter Verhaeghe power play goal midway through the opening period.
Sam Reinhart, aka Mr. Power Play Goal, scored another one for Florida on their second power play of the first, sending the Cats into the intermission with a nice two-goal lead.
Florida continued to carry play throughout much of the middle frame, outshooting Colorado 27-8 and scoring the only goal of the period.
It came off the stick of Eetu Luostarinen, his tenth of the season and second in as many games, on a play where he dove, fully extended, across the slot to get his tape on a juicy rebound off a Dmitry Kulikov point shot.
The proverbial nail in the Avalanche coffin came from Panthers captain Sasha Barkov. He picked up the puck at the side of the Colorado net and walked across the top of the crease, out-waiting Avs goaltender Alexandar Georgiev and depositing the puck into a yawning net.
That would be more than enough for Bobrovsky.
He finished with 35 saves en route to picking up his third shutout of the season and seventh as a member of the Panthers.
On to Pittsburgh.
Here are some thoughts and observations from Saturday’s battle with the Avalanche:
Barkov snapped a two-game pointless streak with his three-point night against Colorado. He’s up to 39 helpers and 51 points this season.
Additionally, Barkov had an excellent night in the faceoff circle. He won 12 of the 16 draws he took.
Matthew Tkachuk has logged five points in his last two games after picking up a pair of assists against the Avs.
Extending a point streak to four games was Verhaeghe with his first period power play goal, his 26th tally of the season. He’d later add an assist on Barkov’s third period goal.
Florida was perfect on special teams Saturday, going 2-for-2 on the power play and killing of Colorado’s only man advantage.
LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA
