Carter Verhaege and Anton Lundell each scored a pair of goals as the Florida Panthers thrashed the Columbus Blue Jackets 9-2 Saturday night in Sunrise at FLA Live Arena.
It didn't take long for the Cats to get one on the board, as Verhaege only needed 46 seconds to make it 1-0 Panthers with his 12th of the season. Anthony Duclair would make it 2-0 Panthers at 2:07 on the power play, his 16th of the season, kickstarting a 4-goal first for the Cats. By the time the first intermission rolled around, Florida had added two more goals for a 4-0 lead coruetsy of MacKenize Weegar (3) at 9:27 and shorthanded, and Verhaege's 2nd of the night at 13:28 for his 13th of 2021-22.
In the 2nd period, Florida added another pair of goals, with Jonathan Huberdeau (15) making it 5-0 Panthers 2:02 into the period. At this point, Columbus made a goalie change, swapping out starter Joonas Korpisalo for backup Elvis Merlikins, who wouldn't do any better. Korpisalo had allowed 5 goals on 36 before being replaced, while Merslikins allowed 4 goals on 15 shots faced. Meanwhile, Lundell would get the touchdown goal for the Panthers with his 8th of the season at 12:10 which sent the Cats to the 2nd intermission holding a 6-0 advantage.
In period 3, Columbus got the fast start with Gustav Nyquist (9) on the power play to finally get the Jackets on the board. Florida would erase his efforts, however, with 3 more unanswered goals (stop, stop, they're already dead!) by Sam Bennett (15) at 3:40, Lundell's 2nd of the game at 9:33 for his 9th of 2021-22, and Ryan Lomberg (4) at 10:14 to make it 9-1 Panthers. At least for Columbus, Boone Jenner made it 9-2 Florida with his 15th of the season, and that's how things would stay until the final buzzer.
Team Stats:
Shots: CBJ 30, FLA 51
Hits: CBJ 29, FLA 19
Faceoff Wins: CBJ 27, FLA 21
PIM: CBJ 8, FLA 8
Up Next:
CBJ: 1/20 @ PHI, 7 PM
FLA: 1/18 @ CGY, 9 PM (pending postponement)
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