Tag Archive for: Barkov

Barkov Ties Franchise Assists Record, Panthers Defeat Rangers 4-3

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SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers continued their winning ways against one of the league’s bests, defeating the New York Rangers 4-3 off of Carter Verhaeghe’s game winner.

 

Florida has won their last three games, improving their record to 21-12-2.

 

Sergei Bobrovsky had 31 saves  in his 17th win of the season. 

 

Here’s three takeaways from the game.

 

Barkov ties another franchise record

Aleksander Barkov entered Friday’s contest with 412 career assists — second most in  Panthers’ franchise history.

 

Only Jonathan Huberdeau had more with 415.

 

Barkov, 28, got three primary assists in the first two periods on Friday night — equaling Huberdeau’s 415 Panthers’ assists. 

 

“I’m sure that’s going to be another record broken very soon,” Matthew Tkachuk said of Barkov. “He’s just been incredible all year… From the start of camp, he just drives everything for us.”

 

Barkov will take sole possession of the record with his next assist — adding his name to yet another milestone in Panthers’ history. 

 

Florida’s captain is second on the team in scoring with 38 points in 32 games.

 

Rodrigues, Reinhart, Barkov… again

When Florida needs offense, it’s probably going to come from the first line of Barkov, Reinhart and Rodrigues. 

 

That would be the case again with the Rangers in town. 

 

Rodrigues would get his seventh goal of the season with 1:15 remaining in the first to open the scoring. 

 

In the second, Reinhart would double the Panthers lead with his team-high 22nd goal of the  year.

 

After trailing 2-0 in the second, the Rangers would claw back to tie the game, with goals from Artemi Panarin and Will Cuylle.  

 

Florida didn’t let their blown two-goal lead deter them. In need of a goal, Reinhart and Barkov would connect again to put the Panthers up 3-2. 

 

Reinhart scored his second of the game and 23rd goal of the season less than three minutes after the Rangers tied it to retake the lead for Florida.

 

The trio combined for six points in the game. They linked up for six points just two nights before in Tampa. 

 

Another great night on the penalty kill

Even when the goals weren’t coming, or as the power play struggled, Florida’s penalty kill was their strong point.

 

The Panthers were 100 percent on the kill again on Friday, going 2/2 against the league’s best power play team (Rangers 31.1 percent).

 

“Our penalty kill has been pretty darn solid now for about a month and a half,” head coach  Paul Maurice said. “I think we feel confident in it.”

 

Since Nov. 20, the Panthers have had the best penalty kill in the league — conceding just  four times on 56 chances over that stretch (92.9 percent). 

 

Panthers Notes

Florida plays the second half of their home back-to-back on Dec. 30 against the Montreal Canadiens.

 

The Panthers are currently second in the Atlantic, third in the East with 44 points.

Verhaeghe Scores 100th Career Goal, Panthers Begin California Road Trip With Fifth-Straight Win

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The Florida Panthers kicked off their three-game California road trip on the right track, defeating the San Jose Sharks 5-3 at the SAP Center Tuesday night.

 

Here’s some updates from last night’s late west-coast game in case you missed it. 

 

— Florida had five different goal scorers Tuesday night; Ryan Lomberg, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, Kevin Stenlund and Aleksander Barkov. 

 

— Carter Verhaeghe’s game-tying goal in the third period was the 100th of his career. The 28-year-old has seven goals on the season. 

 

— Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist against the Sharks, extending his point-streak to five games. Reinhart has scored at least two-points in each of the past five games. He leads the Panthers in scoring with 23 points. 

 

—  Anthony Stolarz, had 19 saves on 22 shots in his second win of the season. The Panthers’ backup goalie has a 2-1-0 record this season. 

 

— Florida won their fifth-straight game, improving their record to 10-4-1. They are third in the Eastern Conference (Boston, New York Rangers).

 

— Sam Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe all had two points Tuesday night. 

 

— Florida scored twice on the power play. This is only the second time all season they’ve converted more than once with the man-advantage (Nov. 12 vs Chicago).  

 

— The Panthers will make the short trip from San Jose to LA for a back-to-back in Southern California. They’ll face the Kings on Thursday and the Ducks on Friday. 

 

— Sergei Bobrovsky, who got the night off in San Jose, will most likely get the start against LA.

 

— Friday’s matchup against Anaheim will be the first time Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas faces his former team. Gudas, 33, spent the last three seasons with the Panthers. Former Panther Frank Vatrano is also with the Ducks.

Surging Panthers ride Huberdeau, Barkov to easy win

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Something’s happening here.

After Saturday’s dominant, no-doubt 4-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings, the Florida Panthers have now won six of their past nine games. And this seems, well, real. They’ve survived the start of the season, which typically buries them, and they’ve done it with star Sasha Barkov struggling to score and hyped goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky posting a goals-against-average near four.

Both, however, were exceptional Saturday on a night the Panthers were without several regulars, including Vincent Trocheck.

Barkov hasn’t admitted to an injury, but he has appeared hobbled at times. Not Saturday. He was everywhere, from faceoffs to the crease, finishing with a goal and an assist — and four of the Panthers’ 41 shots. Bobrovsky wasn’t tested much after the opening few minutes, but stopped all 22 shots he saw.

So now the Panthers have 18 points through 14 games, compared to 15 points through 14 games last season and 10 points through 14 games the season prior.

Most importantly, they seem to be grasping Joel Quenneville’s system. The coach was beaming about how “clean” they played in their own end — very few chances, even fewer Red Wings left unmarked on rebounds.

Here are a few of the tweets from the game, and after:

Here are player videos:

 

 

And here’s a video from Michael “Dutch” Sonbeek, who covered the game with me for Five Reasons Sports.