Florida Panthers
Spencer Knight, Panthers Spoil Emotional Opener for Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Understandably, it took the Florida Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets a minute to get going on Tuesday night.
But once the second period rolled around, these two were back to the business of hockey.
In the end, the Stanley Cup champs — and goalie Spencer Knight — were too much for the Blue Jackets in a 4-3 win.
The Panthers went 2-2-0 on their first road trip of the season, returning home to face Vancouver on Thursday with two straight victories.
Anton Lundell, Dmitry Kulikov, Sam Reinhart, and Eetu Luostarinen all scored for Florida.
Knight looked strong, making 34 saves for his first NHL victory since beating the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 3, 2023.
Columbus scored with 2:39 remaining with goalie Elvis Merzlikins on the bench.
The Jackets kept fighting, but Knight kept stopping shots with 14 of his saves in the third period.
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Tuesday’s game started after an emotional and classy ceremony which honored the late Johnny Gaudreau and included, among other things, a pseudo-No. 13 retirement banner raised to the rafters.
After the game started with a 13-second runoff to honor Gaudreau, the two teams played a hum-drum opening period, Florida leading the scoreless frame with nine shots to Columbus’ seven.
Things picked up quickly in the second.
After the Blue Jackets scored a shorthanded goal 41 seconds into the period, the two combined for three goals in 1:34.
Lundell got his third goal in Florida’s back-to-back set which included a 4-3 win in Boston on Monday.
Kulikov tied the score at 2 before Reinhart gave Florida its first of the game by scoring off a pass from Sam Bennett with 0.04 seconds left in the second.
That erased what had been a very nice period for the Blue Jackets.
Not only did Columbus outshoot the Panthers 16-8 in the second, but Sean Monahan — Gaudreau’s former teammate in Calgary — scored to give the Jackets a 2-1 lead.
Reinhart and Lundell each come home with three goals in their past two games.
GOALS OF THE GAME
- Blue Jackets 1, Panthers 0 (0:41, 2nd SH): Cole Sillinger is all alone when he took a pass from Kent Johnson, walked in on Spencer Knight and picked up the first goal of the night.
- Panthers 1, Blue Jackets 1 (10:25, 2nd): Sam Reinhart gets control of a bobbling puck in the slot and feeds a hard-charging Anton Lundell through the left circle for No. 15’s third goal in the past two days.
- Blue Jackets 2, Panthers 1 (11:22, 2nd): Sean Monahan followed up his own rebound and scored — and immediately pointed to the Johnny Gaudreau banner hanging from the rafters. Monahan and Gaudreau were teammates in Calgary.
- Panthers 2, Blue Jackets 2 (11:59, 2nd): Dmitry Kulikov throws up a point shot through traffic for the third goal in a span of 1:34.
- Panthers 3, Blue Jackets 2 (19:59, 2nd): Sam Reinhart gets to the front of the net and hammers a pass from Sam Bennett which touched Carter Verhaeghe to give the Panthers momentum going into the third despite being outshot 23-16 through the first 40.
- Panthers 4, Blue Jackets 2 (15:12, 3rd): Eetu Luostarinen drives in and beats Elvis Merzlikins.
- Panthers 4, Blue Jackets 3 (17:21, 3rd): James van Riemsdyk got in front of Knight and knocked a shot from Damon Severson.
GR’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME
- 1. Spencer Knight, Florida
- 2. Sam Reinhart, Florida
- 3. Sean Monahan, Columbus
ON DECK: GAME NO. 6
VANCOUVER CANUCKS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
- Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
- Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/Fort Lauderdale); WHDT 9 (West Palm); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/Fort Myers)
- 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
- This Season — At Florida: Thursday. At Vancouver: Dec. 12.
- Last Season (Vancouver Won 2-0) — At Florida: Canucks 5, Panthers 3 (Oct. 21). At Vancouver: Canucks 4, Panthers 0 (Dec. 15).
- All-time Regular Season Series: Vancouver leads 19-13-4, 6 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. Vegas Golden Knights, 6 p.m. (Local TV)
