Don’t look now, but the Florida Panthers are building up some steam. Playing in their third road game in four nights, the Panthers took down the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 on Sunday night at United Center, wrapping up a perfect 3-0-0 road trip. For the second time on this road trip, goals were quite hard to come by for both the Panthers and their opponent. The first tally of the night came late in the second period, and once again, it was the Cats who went ahead first. Directly off an offensive zone faceoff win by Cole Schwindt, Toby Bjornfot came down from the blue line and picked up the puck, carrying it behind the net and attempting a wraparound shot on Spencer Knight that squeaked through the goaltender’s legs. Unfortunately for the Cats, they couldn’t hold the lead and take it into the third period. A failed zone clear by Florida led to Tyler Bertuzzi banging home an Ilya Mikheyev rebound with just 29.3 on the clock. It took Florida less than five minutes of third period time to re-take the lead. Mackie Samoskevich picked up the puck in the right circle and leaned into a wrist shot that was stopped by Knight, just not enough to keep it from crossing the goal line. They weren’t done there. Just 2:04 later, Evan Rodrigues drew a gaggle of Blackhawks toward him in the left circle before feeding Carter Verhaeghe in the slot, and Swaggy’s wrister beat Knight over the glove to double the Cats lead with 12:36 to go. An empty-net tally by Sam Reinhart, his 26th goal and 50th point of the season, cemented the victory for Florida, but Bjornfot added a second of the game off a great feed from Verhaeghe with 22.2 to go just for good measure. Goaltender Daniil Tarasov was solid when called upon Sunday, finishing with 20 saves to earn his second win on the road trip. He was also in net for Thursday’s victory in Winnipeg. On to the Mammoth. LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Panthers aim for perfect road trip, wrap up back-to-back set with matchup in Chicago [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/panthers-aim-for-perfect-road-trip-wrap-up-back-to-back-set-with-matchup-in-chicago] Marchand scores twice in return from injury, including OT winner as Panthers take down Minnesota [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/marchand-scores-twice-in-return-from-injury-including-ot-winner-as-panthers-take-down-minnesota] Brad Marchand returns to Panthers lineup in Minnesota after 7 game absence [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/brad-marchand-returns-to-panthers-lineup-in-minnesota-after-7-game-absence] Road trip continues for Panthers in chilly Minnesota [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/road-trip-continues-for-panthers-in-chilly-minnesota] REPORT: Panthers Looking To Make Trades; Cap Situation And Aleksander Barkov's Health Is Holding Them Back [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/report-panthers-looking-to-make-trades-cap-situation-and-aleksander-barkov-s-health-is-holding-them-back] Photo caption: Jan 25, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Tobias Bjornfot (22) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Chicago Blackhawks during the second period at United Center. (Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images)
