Captain Boone Jenner scored two goals and Daniil Tarasov made 46 saves to fuel the host Columbus Blue Jackets to a 5-3 victory over the Florida Panthers on Sunday.
Johnny Gaudreau collected a goal and two assists, Sean Kuraly had a short-handed goal and Yegor Chinakhov also tallied as the Blue Jackets improved to 4-1-1 in their last six games. The victory came in Brad Larsen’s 100th game as head coach of Columbus.
Defenseman Aaron Ekblad, Matthew Tkachuk and Colin White each scored a goal and defenseman Gustav Forsling notched two assists for the Panthers, who have dropped three in a row (0-2-1).
Two-time Vezina Trophy recipient Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves to fall to 8-2-1 in 11 career encounters against his former team.
With Mathieu Olivier serving a tripping penalty, Columbus claimed a 3-2 lead after Eric Robinson’s deflected shot caromed off Kuraly and into the net with 1:57 remaining in the third period. The goal was Kuraly’s sixth of the season and fourth in his last four games.
Gaudreau’s wrist shot from the left circle beat Bobrovsky just under six minutes later to double the advantage. Gaudreau’s goal was his seventh of the season.
Jenner added his second goal of the night and team-leading ninth of the season with 1:49 remaining in the third period before White answered 54 seconds later.
Tkachuk deflected Forsling’s shot past Tarasov to open the scoring at 7:52 of the first period. Tkachuk’s goal was his eighth of the season and third in as many games.
Chinakhov answered 3 1/2 minutes later after beating Bobrovsky between the pads on a breakaway for his third goal of the season.
Kent Johnson wired a shot from the top of the right circle that was deflected home by Jenner to give Columbus a 2-1 lead at 2:53 of the second period.
Ekblad forged a 2-2 tie after he converted a strong drive to the net with 3:22 remaining in the second period. The goal was Ekblad’s second of the season.
–Field Level Media
