Reinhart, Barkov lead Panthers to 3-2 road victory over Tampa Bay
Florida captain Sasha Barkov logged three assists while Sam Reinhart recorded his 20th and 21st goals of the season
The Florida Panthers came out of the NHL’s annual holiday break with a strong effort against one of their biggest rivals, and they were rewarded with two big points in the standings.
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was called upon early and often, responding with one of his stronger outings of the season, leading Florida to a 3-2 road win over cross-state rival Tampa Bay.
It was the first of three meetings this season between Florida and the Lightning.
It didn’t long for the Panthers to get things going in their favor, and it was defenseman Aaron Ekblad who would be the catalyst.
Ekblad, playing in his 17th game of the season after missing several months recovering from shoulder surgery, picked up his first goal of the year on a play that came directly off Florida winning an offensive zone draw.
The wrist shot from the point eluded a partially screened Andrei Vasilevskiy, giving Florida an early 1-0 lead.
The Panthers escaped the opening 20 minutes with a 1-0 lead thanks in large part to Bobrovsky’s efforts between the pipes.
He stopped all nine Tampa shots sent his way during the first period, including a pair of high danger shots, one of which came on a Steven Stamkos breakaway.
Sam Reinhart picked up his 20th goal of the season less than 90 seconds into the middle frame, finishing off a very nice passing play in the offensive zone, with both his linemates factoring in the tally.
Bobrovsky got through 40 minutes without giving up a goal, but NHL scoring leader Nikita Kucherov quickly changed that when he popped a loose puck into Florida’s net just 29 seconds into the third.
Only a few minutes would pass when the two teams ended up trading goals 21 seconds apart, starting with a shorthanded goal by Reinhart that came from a great effort by both him and Florida captain Sasha Barkov.
Moments later, Michael Eyssimont picked up his own rebound after an initial shot was blocked by Ekblad and flung the puck past Bobrovsky’s glove, cutting Florida’s lead back to one.
A pair of huge saves came in short order on either side of the ice, but only one was made by a goaltender.
Bobrovsky made the save of the night, flashing his glove on Brayden Point who came in on a breakaway. That came shortly after Barkov was sent on a breakaway of his own – thanks to a nice pass from Reinhart – but he was stopped by the right goal post behind Vasilevskiy’s glove.
Both goaltenders came up big down the stretch, Vasilevskiy in particular on a late Panthers power play, but it would be the Cats would come away with two points.
Here are some thoughts and observations from Wednesday’s game in Tampa:
Barkov finished with three assists. He has three 3-point games this season, all coming over his past 14 games.
Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice coached in his 1,800th NHL game, becoming only the third man to do so.
Reinhart is up to 21 goals this season and has four over his past four games.
Bobrovsky set the tone early. Tampa’s expected goals were 1.39 during the first period. That number jumped up to 2.53 through a scoreless 40 minutes.
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