The Florida Panthers got goals from three different defensemen while defeating the host Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Sunday afternoon.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves to earn the win for the Panthers. Bobrovsky improved his record to 26-4-3.
Defensemen Aaron Ekblad, Brandon Montour and MacKenzie Weegar scored for the Panthers. Forwards Aleksander Barkov and Anton Lundell added empty-net goals in the final two minutes. Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau each had two assists.
The last time the Panthers had goals by three defensemen was in October of 2019.
For Ekblad, it was his 13th goal of the season. He entered the game top-three in goals among NHL defensemen.
Florida finished this road trip with a 4-1-0 record. The Panthers’ next five games are at home, where they have the best record in the NHL at 23-3-0.
Patrick Kane had one goal and one assist for the Blackhawks, who also got 20 saves from Marc-Andre Fleury. Caleb Jones scored Chicago’s other goal.
Kane leads Chicago with 48 points, but the Blackhawks have lost three straight games and 11 of their past 14. They have also lost three straight games to Florida, dating to last season.
Chicago had 11 of the first period’s 14 shots on goal and emerged with a 1-1 tie score through 20 minutes.
With 3:27 left in the first, Florida opened the scoring on Ekblad’s one-timer from the left circle.
Chicago tied it with just 32 seconds left as Kane shot from below the goal-line, bouncing the puck in off Bobrovsky’s body on the short side.
Florida took a 2-1 lead with 12:34 left in the second on a goal by Montour after a drop pass from Barkov.
The Panthers extended their lead to 3-1 just 50 seconds into the third on a play that started with Huberdeau wrestling the puck away from Brandon Hagel in the slot. On the other end, Carter Verhaeghe dug the puck out of the right corner and flipped it to Weegar, who got the goal on a shot that trickled through Fleury.
Florida appeared to go up 4-1 on a goal by Anthony Duclair. But Chicago challenged the goal, which was wiped out due to offsides.
Chicago then cut its deficit to 3-2 on Jones’ power-play goal with 7:22 left in the third. Jones’ shot from the left circle trickled in under Bobrovsky’s left pad.
–Field Level Media
