Barkov Scores Twice in Win Over Lightning, Jones Makes Panthers Debut

SUNRISE, Fla. — Aleksander Barkov stole the show Monday night at Amerant Bank Arena.

The Florida Panthers captain scored twice as he led his team to a 2-1 victory over their in-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 29 shots to pick his 26th win of the season. The 36-year-old goaltender has given up just one goal in his past two starts.

“The atmosphere was great,” Bobrovsky said of the rivalry matchup. “Obviously they got a good team. We got a good team. It’s fun hockey.”

The Panthers improved to 38-21-3 and are now tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the Atlantic Division lead (Toronto has game in hand) with 79 points. 

“I think that we had a good effort all game,” Barkov said. “We knew that they are a good team and have been playing really well, so we had to be at our best. I think we did a lot of good things throughout the whole game. 

He added: “Obviously at the end when we had to defend, [Bobrovsky] was there for us and gave us a chance to win.”

Andrei Vasilevky had 27 saves as the Lightning moved to 35-21-4 on the year following the loss.

Brayden Point got the lone goal for the Lightning, scoring his 32nd of the season 2:07 into the to end Bobrovsky’s attempt at consecutive shutouts. 

Another storyline entering Monday’s Battle of Florida was the highly anticipated Panthers debut for Seth Jones. 

Jones was acquired on Saturday in a blockbuster trade in which the Panthers sent goaltender Spencer Knight and a first-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks in return for the five-time All-Star,

Head coach Paul Maurice didn’t waste any time putting his new blueliner to use. The 30-year-old played 22:56 of ice time and found himself playing special teams on one of the Panthers’ penalty kill units. 

“He’s going to be really good for us,” Maurice said. “For flying from Anaheim yesterday to get here, and then to have everything be brand new… I was really pleased at his ability to process and play the game. We’ll get the systems down, we’ll get all the other stuff down which will make him faster.”

Speaking of special teams, it was a busy but successful night as the Panthers were a perfect seven-for-seven on the PK — including a big kill on a double-minor towards the end of the second period.

On the other side of the man-advantage, Barkov beat Vaslevskiy from the bumper for his second goal of the game — going one-for-three on the power play.

“Our penalty killing won us the game,” Maurice said. “Bobrovsky is just a huge part of that — especially with Mikkola in the box for the first four [minutes]. And then Luostarinen takes a four minute [penalty]. We got killers and that’s where Seth [Jones] was real valuable tonight.”

Riding a four game win streak, the Panthers will be back in action on Thursday, as they host a Columbus Blue Jackets team that is fighting for a playoff spot.