Panthers forward Sam Bennett speaks after Florida's 6-3 loss in Washington on Feb. 4. The Florida Panthers played a very strong road game on Thursday night in St. Louis. It didn’t take long for the Panthers to find their groove, dominating large segments of the game while skating to an exciting 3-2 victory over the Blues. It was actually the home team that jumped out to a quick start on Florida when Zack Bolduc scored on St. Louis’ third shot just 3:31 into the game. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg] From there, it was all Panthers for basically the rest of the opening period. Mackie Samoskevich got a piece of a Sam Bennett shot on goal around three minutes later to tie the game at one, then a Matthew Tkachuk power play goal at the 16:54 mark sent the Panthers into the intermission holding a 2-1 lead. The advantage didn’t last very long as Oskar Sundqvist deflected a Robert Thomas shot past Spencer Knight to knot the game at two. Florida was dominant during much of the final frame, limiting the Blues zone time and holding them without a shot on goal for over 10 minutes. It wasn’t until the final minute of the game, with Tkachuk taking a shift on the top line with Sasha Barkov and Sam Reinhart, that the Cats took the lead for good. Barkov picked up the puck along the boards and quickly fed Reinhart between the circles. Reinhart’s initial shot was blocked but he pounced on the puck and fired it again. The shot was deflected by Tkachuk past Joel Hofer, who was excellent on Thursday, with just 11.8 seconds on the clock. Tkachuk pumped his fist into the air and Reinhart looked up at the clock to see how much time was left. Not enough for a comeback. On to the Senators. QUICK THOUGHTS Tkachuk has scored goals in five straight games. He has 10 points during a five-game point streak. Bennett has four goals and six points over his past nine games. Barkov extended his point streak to five games, racking up nine points during the run. Speaking of five-game point streaks, Reinhart now has one as well, accumulating two goals and eight points over that stretch. LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Anthony Duclair Foundation set to open synthetic ice rink at South Florida high school next week [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/anthony-duclair-foundation-set-to-open-synthetic-ice-rink-at-south-florida-high-school-next-week] Quick road trip ends with Panthers only visit to St. Louis this season [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/quick-road-trip-ends-with-panthers-only-visit-to-st-louis-this-season] Anonymous poll shows NHL players want to be coached by Paul Maurice [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/anonymous-poll-shows-nhl-players-want-to-be-coached-by-paul-maurice] Three takeaways: Game not very physical, Panthers showed discipline despite falling behind [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/three-takeaways-game-not-very-physical-panthers-showed-discipline-despite-falling-behind] Panthers never hold lead, fall 6-3 to Capitals [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/panthers-never-hold-lead-fall-6-3-to-capitals] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
