Barkov Heroics Lift Panthers Over Blues in OT

SUNRISE — Sasha Barkov was a one-man wrecking crew for the Florida Panthers against the St. Louis Blues on Friday night.

At least in overtime.

After a long shift deep in his own zone, one in which Sergei Bobrovsky stopped three shots, Barkov still made it up the ice to “take on the whole team,’’ as Paul Maurice said.

Barkov not only stole away the puck in the St. Louis zone, but then drew a penalty with 42.3 seconds left.

With 16.2 remaining, he rifled one past Joel Hofer to give the Panthers a 2-1 win.

The Panthers had plenty of chances against St. Louis goalie Joel Hofer, but he turned back everything and held a 1-0 lead for more than an entire period.

Oskar Sundqvist gave St. Louis the initial lead midway through the first.

Florida did not tie it until the second.

Uvis Balinskis got his first goal of the season, the Florida defenseman rolling up in the zone and one-timing a pass from Barkov in the right circle.

The Panthers have won three straight since being shutout in back-to-back games in Vancouver and Calgary.

Florida has won six of eight and move on to play Tampa Bay in a home-and-home which starts Sunday afternoon at Amalie Arena.

PANTHERS BLUES NOTES

• By assisting on Balinskis goal together, Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk paired up on the same goal for the 28th time since Tkachuk joined the Panthers in 2022. That is the most shared assists on the Panthers during that span.
• Barkov is now one overtime goal away from the franchise lead. Olli Jokinen had 10.

HOW THEY SCORED

• Blues 1, Panthers 0 (10:01 1st): A backdoor pass from Alexandre Texier leads to a nice backhanded shot from Oskar Sundqvist which goes off Sergei Bobrovsky’s shoulder and in.
• Panthers 1, Blues 1 (10:58 2nd): Uvis Balinskis gets his first goal of the season by one-timing a cross-ice feed from Sasha Barkov.
• Panthers 2, Blues 1 (4:43 OT): After forcing a turnover and drawing a penalty, who else but Barkov would score the game-winner?

FHN’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

• 1. Sasha Barkov, Florida
• 2. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida
• 3. Joel Hofer, St. Louis

ON DECK: GAME No. 35

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

• When: Sunday, 5 p.m.
• Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Season Series — At Tampa Bay: Sunday; Ap. 15. At Florida: Monday; March 3.
• Last Regular Season: Panthers Won 2-1
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 77-51-19, 10 ties
• All-Time Postgame Series: Lightning Leads 2-1 (won 2021 first-round, 2022 ECS); Florida d. Lightning 4-1 in 2024 first-round.
• Up Next for the Panthers: Monday vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, 7 p.m.