Barkov Scores OT Winner, Panthers Defeat Blues 2-1

SUNRISE — It’s good to be home for the holidays. 

After wrapping up a five game western conference road trip Wednesday in Minneapolis, the Florida Panthers were back at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday night, where they defeated the St. Louis Blues 2-1 in overtime.

Aleksander Barkov had the game winning goal to close off a two point night.

Uvis Balinskis also scored and Sergei Bobrovsky saved 26 of 27 shots in the win as the Panthers improved to 21-11-2 on the season.

Here’s tonight’s takeaways

Captain steals the show in overtime

It’s no longer a surprise — and hasn’t been for a while — to see Aleksander Barkov flash his brilliance on the ice.

The Panthers captain once again had the hometown fans on their feet following his two point performance on Friday night, which he capped off with the overtime winner.

Barkov’s 10th goal of the season led his team to their 21st win on the year, but the highlight of the night came on the shift prior to the ot winner.

St. Louis had Florida on its heels late in the overtime, as the same three Panthers were trying to prevent a Blues winner very late into their shift.

When all of his energy should’ve been depleted, Barkov caught a second wind. The 29-year-old forced the Blues out of the offensive zone, pushed them back into their own zone, then stole the puck before walking around two players and drawing a penalty with 45 seconds remaining in overtime.

“He was on the ice for probably two minutes before he took on the rest of their team,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of Barkov. “Those are the things that special players do for the fans and for the other guys on the bench, we sit and watch that in awe. It was fun to be a part of.”

On the ensuing power play, Barkov finished what he started, burying the game winner with a shot from the top of the circle to give the Panthers their third consecutive win.

“The last option was to shoot for me,” Barkov said with a smile. “I know we had a couple shooters there [but] they were taken away. I just saw the net there and tried to put it in. It went in.”

Barkov is third in Panthers scoring with 32 points (10G, 22A) in 24 games this season.

Balinskis finally lights the lamp

Entering his 31st game of the season on Friday night, Panthers defenseman Uvis Balinnskis was still searching for his first goal of the year.

The zero next to his name in the goal column was not for a lack of trying, as the 28-year-old has had his fair chances to light the lamp, between his time on the powerplay and shifts playing forward.

With the Panthers trailing 1-0 at the midway point of Friday’s contest, Balinskis finally scored his first goal of the season, burying a one-timer past Joel Hofer to tie the game at 1-1.

“I was kind of waiting a long time for that,” Balinskis said about his goal. “It was nice because my parents were in the stands too and my sister. They get to see that too so it was pretty cool.”

Bennett returns to the fold

The Panthers were successful in its last contest, defeating the Minnesota Wild 6-1 on the road and doing so without top forward Sam Bennett, who was out with an illness. 

Bennett played through the illness on Monday night in Edmonton, but wasn’t able to go on Wednesday in Minnesota. 

Entering Friday’s tilt as a game-time decision, Bennett got the green light to play, ending with 13:04 minutes of ice time against the Blues. 

While Bennett returned he still isn’t fully fit, so Maurice kept the same top-six that routed the Wild two nights before intact. Bennett slid down to the third line, centering Mackie Samoskevich and Evan Rodrigues, while Matthew Tkachuk remained on the top line with Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe. 

“We played him in the three-hole, cut his minutes right back,” Maurice said of Bennett. “He was not at his 100 percent best but that was also very true in Edmonton and he played ill. Sasha was out (in Edmonton) and absolutely couldn’t play so we really appreciate what he does for us. He played some important minutes for us [tonight], just not as many as he’s used to.”

Panthers Notes

Forward Jesper Boqvist (undisclosed) did not play on Friday. His status is day-to-day after getting injured on Wednesday night in Minnesota.

The Panthers hit the road again — but will stay in the state — as they’ll face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning for the first time this season on Sunday.