Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Panthers take back share of Central lead
For the 11th time, Florida rallies from a deficit to win
Aleksander Barkov had two goals and an assist, and the Florida Panthers beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Saturday night.
Carter Verhaeghe added a goal and an assist as the Panthers earned their third straight win. Frank Vatrano also scored, and Anthony Duclair had two assists in his first game back since Feb. 27.
Brandon Hagel and Adam Boqvist scored for the Blackhawks, which lost to the Panthers for the third time this season. Kevin Lankinen had 31 saves.
Florida, which has won 11 of its 18 games after trailing at some point, grabbed control with three goals in a scoring burst in the second period.
Barkov tied it at 1 when he beat Lankinen at 7:46. Verhaeghe put the Panthers ahead to stay 11 minutes in the period, and Valtrano made it 3-1 at 12:29. It was the 10th goal of the season for each the scorers during the decisive sequence.
Barkov scored again midway through the third. The captain has 11 points over his last nine games.
Hagel scored into an open net with Bobrovsky out of position just 28 seconds into the second off a return pass from Dominik Kubalik during a 2-on-1 break. It was Hagel’s second goal.
After being outplayed in the early going, Chicago got on track midway through the first with significant zone time and nine shots over the last 10 minutes of
that period.
Duclair, who missed six games with a lower-body injury, was thrilled to be back on the top line with Barkov.
“He’s one of the best centermen in the league; probably one of the best two-way forwards I’ve ever played with,” said Duclair, who has 10 assists on the season. “We found some chemistry early on in the season and it keeps going now.”
Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 stops for Florida (18-54), which is tied atop the
Central Division with Tampa Bay with 40 points. The 40 points match the 1996-97 squad for the best 27-game start in Panthers history.
Florida coach Joel Quenneville couldn’t have been more pleased with the effort of his top line.
“They all played a part in all the goals that they scored,” Quenneville said. “Nice to see they get reunited and have a big night. I thought [Duclair’s] speed was very dangerous.”
Yandle honored: Hall
of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque, whose career spanned 22 seasons and 1,612 games, was among those congratulating Keith Yandle on recently playing in his 1,000th game during a pregame video tribute.
Yandle achieved the milestone on March 7 against the Carolina Hurricanes, where he was also recognized on the scoreboard. During pregame warmups, all the Panthers wore jerseys with Yandle’s name and 1000 on the back.
The Boston native was
presented with a 1,000game Silver Stick by Barkov to conclude the festivities. One surprise gift from the organization was a custommade golf cart.
Back in lineup: Duclair returned to action after missing six games with a lower-body injury.
Great crowd: The game was witnessed by 4,721 fans, including Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores and his family.
Up next: Florida wraps up its two-game series with Chicago on Monday night.