Sam Reinhart scored his 30th goal of the season and contributed two assists for the Florida Panthers in a 5-1 win against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon in Sunrise, Fla.
Carter Verhaeghe contributed a goal and an assist, while Jonah Gadjovich, Matthew Tkachuk and Evan Rodrigues also scored. Aleksander Barkov had two assists and Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves for the Panthers, who have won three of their last four.
Chicago’s Landon Slaggert scored the fastest goal in franchise history to start a game and Petr Mrazek made 39 saves for the Blackhawks, who have dropped five of six (1-3-2).
The Blackhawks scored seven seconds into the game after Ryan Donato won the opening faceoff and poked the puck ahead to Slaggert. He used his speed to get ahead of the defense and score on a breakaway for a 1-0 lead. The previous mark was Brent Sutter’s goal in eight seconds in a win over Vancouver on Feb. 5, 1995, according to the NHL.
Florida tied it 1-1 at 5:28 of the first.
Mrazek was unable to cover a loose puck in the crease and Gadjovich shot it into the net just as teammate A.J. Greer fell into Mrazek. The Blackhawks challenged for goaltender interference, but replays showed Greer was pushed by Chicago forward Jason Dickinson.
The Panthers took a 2-1 lead at 10:19 of the first.
Barkov’s centering pass got through three defenders to Reinhart at the back post and he scored into the open side of the net. Reinhart, who scored a career-high 57 goals last season, has at least 30 goals in each of the last four seasons.
Florida stretched the lead to 3-1 at 16:29 of the second period.
Reinhart took a one-timer from the inside edge of the right circle that Tkachuk deflected it into the net from about 10 feet away.
The Panthers scored 10 seconds into the third period to extend the lead to 4-1.
Florida dumped the puck into the Chicago zone after winning the opening faceoff and then won the puck back on the forecheck before Rodrigues scored from the bottom of the right circle.
Verhaeghe redirected a feed from Reinhart off a rush while on a power play to make it 5-1 at 9:37 of the third period
–Field Level Media
