Two to go.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for his sixth shutout of the season and the 395th win of his career to help the Florida Panthers defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 on Thursday at Amerant Bank Arena.
Bobrovsky is 11-2-1 in 14 career games against the Blue Jackets with two shutouts. He has 44 career shutouts.
Sam Reinhart scored his team-leading 54th goal.
Matt Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues, and Vladimir Tarasenko scored.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson had two assists. Nick Cousins, Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Aleksander Barkov, and Gustav Forsling each had an assist.
Jet Greaves made 42 saves.
The Blue Jackets entered Thursday's game looking to end a two-game slide after losing 3-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday and falling 5-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night. The Panthers came into the game second in the Atlantic Division with a playoff spot sealed and first place still up for grabs. They won Tuesday's game over the Ottawa Senators 2-0.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FLA PANTHERS | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
1st Period
It took all of 47 seconds for Florida to strike first.
Tkachuk scored his 26th with the assists going to Ekman-Larsson and Cousins.
Snipe show from Matty Tkachuk pic.twitter.com/lmj0leZFLM
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 11, 2024
The Panthers were 0-for-1 on the lone power play and held a 13-7 shots advantage.
2nd Period
After a mostly scoreless second period, the Panthers added two late.
At 17:25 of the second period, Rodrigues scored his 12th to extend the Panthers' 2-0 lead. Lundell and Luostarinen had the assists.
Evan Rodrigues finally capitalizes after plenty of missed opportunities
— Playbook Sports (@PlaybookSN) April 12, 2024
Lundell assist to keep the hot streak going pic.twitter.com/1H3uUCS87W
Then 1:47 later, Reinhart scored his 54th. Barkov and Ekman-Larsson had the assists.
Sam Reinhart gets his 54th goal of the season from none other than Sasha Barkov pic.twitter.com/uIjdaZtezc
— Playbook Sports (@PlaybookSN) April 12, 2024
Columbus had the only power play chance.
Shots on goal were 16-10 Florida in the second period and 29-17 overall in favor of the Panthers.
3rd Period
Tarasenko's 23rd goal at 17:43 capped this one off. Forsling added the assist.
Vladimir Tarasenko puts the finishing touches on this matchup pic.twitter.com/wjxIaUq3l9
— Playbook Sports (@PlaybookSN) April 12, 2024
Florida did not score on the only power play in the period. They outshot Columbus 17-8 in the frame. The Panthers won the series season 3-0-0.
The #CBJ have lost three straight games by three or more goals for the first time this season. It happened twice last season, most recently in mid-March 2023.
— CBJ Stats (@BlueJacketStats) April 12, 2024
Stats
- Shots on Goal: CBJ 25-46 FLA
- Face-off %: CBJ 56.5-43.5 FLA
- Power play: CBJ 0/1-0/2 FLA
- Giveaways: CBJ 20-19 FLA
- Takeaways: CBJ 10-9 FLA
- Blocked shots: CBJ 18-8 FLA
- Hits: CBJ 38-16 FLA
-
5-on-5 stats (via naturalstattrick.com):
- Expected Goals (xG): CBJ 1.25-3.57 FLA
- Shot Attempts (CF): CBJ 35-72 FLA
- Shots on Goal (SF): CBJ 24-43 FLA
- Scoring Chances (SCF): CBJ 16-40 FLA
- High-Danger Chances (HDCF): CBJ 5-17 FLA
Injury Update
- Carson Meyer left Tuesday's first period against the Lightning with an upper-body injury and is out for the season.
- Jake Bean is out for the season with a broken hand suffered on Apr. 4.
- Daniil Tarasov is out with an upper-body injury suffered on Apr. 4.
- Alex Nylander is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
- Boone Jenner is out.
- Adam Boqvist is out with an upper-body injury sustained on Mar. 14 against the Ottawa Senators. There is no timetable for his return.
- Yegor Chinakhov is day-to-day with an upper-body injury he suffered on Mar. 12 against the Canadiens.
- Elvis Merzlikins is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
- Kent Johnson has been placed on injured reserve with a torn labrum in his left shoulder that will sideline him for the remainder of the season. He underwent successful surgery on Mar. 7 and is expected to make a full recovery in six months.
- Patrik Laine entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Jan. 28 and will be away from the team indefinitely.
- Adam Fantilli suffered a calf laceration on Jan. 28 and is expected to miss eight weeks.
Next Up
The Jackets head to Nashville to face the Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
They'll wrap up the regular season at home on Tuesday, Apr. 16 at 7:00 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
