Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson speaks to the media ahead of Florida's game at Mullet Arena in Tempe, Arizona on Jan. 2 The Florida Panthers kicked off a tough western road trip with a solid win in the desert on Tuesday night. Goals by Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk and Gus Forsling fueled Florida to its fifth straight win, a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes. Florida jumped out to a 1-0 lead midway through the first period and it was the red-hot Verhaeghe who would get the party started. The play actually came on a failed dump in by Verhaeghe after he crossed the Coyotes blue line and appeared to be trying to toss the puck in the far corner. After the puck was knocked down by the glove of Matt Dumba, it found its way right back to Verhaeghe and he quickly fired a shot that may have surprised Arizona goaltender Karel Vejmelka. A late power play for the Coyotes nearly saw the game tied heading into the first intermission, but Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made back-to-back stellar saves, one with his blocker and another with his glove, to keep the Panthers head after 20 minutes. The goaltenders remained the story as the game moved through the middle frame, but that changed pretty suddenly during the period’s final minute. That’s because Coyotes winger Jason Zucker leveled Nick Cousins with a vicious hit from behind after Cousins had hit Arizona’s Juuso Valimaki moments after he fell to the ice along the boards. Cousins played one more shift but otherwise did not return while Zucker was issued a game misconduct for the hit. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg] Florida ended up with a three-minute power play as a result of Zucker’s hit, combined with Forsling jumping in to fight Zucker immediately afterwards, but it was Arizona that ended up capitalizing on the whole exchange. With the Panthers on the power play, Alex Kerfoot took a feed from Lawson Crouse and popped the puck over Boborvsky’s glove to tie the game at one with 16:43 to go. Florida’s fourth power play of the game would finally yield a positive result, with Sam Reinhart deflecting a sharp angle shot by Sasha Barkov past Vejmelka to restore the Panthers’ one-goal lead. An own goal credited to Tkachuk and an empty-net tally from Forsling would put the victory on ice for the visitors. On to Vegas. Here are some thoughts and observations from Tuesday’s tilt in the desert: The assist by Barkov on Reinhart’s power play goal was the 416th of his career, moving him into sole possession of first place on the Panthers all-time leaderboard. Florida improved to 16-0-2 on the season when scoring the first goal. Verhaeghe has scored goals in four of his past five games and is now up to 18 tallies through 37 games this season. The Panthers finished 1-for-5 on the power play while going a perfect 2-for-2 on the PK. Florida has allowed shorthanded goals in two of its past three games. LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Oliver Ekman-Larsson reflects on time with Coyotes ahead of first game at Mullett Arena [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/oliver-ekman-larsson-reflects-on-time-with-coyotes-ahead-of-first-game-at-mullett-arena] Challenging road trip beings with Panthers in Arizona to face surprising Coyotes [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/challenging-road-trip-beings-with-panthers-in-arizona-to-face-surprising-coyotes] Panthers embark on extended road trip, embrace facing playoff-caliber opponents [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-embark-on-extended-road-trip-embrace-facing-playoff-caliber-opponents] Happy New Year from THN Florida! [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/happy-new-year-from-thn-florida] Three takeaways: Bottom six shines as Florida grinds out win over Montreal [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/three-takeaways-bottom-six-shines-as-florida-grinds-out-win-over-montreal] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
