Hurricanes blank Panthers 4-0
Evgeny Kuznetsov had his first goal as a member of the Hurricanes and Frederik Anderson recorded his first shutout in more than a year as Carolina beat the Florida Panthers 4-0 on Thursday night.
Kuznetsov, playing in his fourth game since last week's trade from the Washington Capitals, also had an assist. Seth Jarvis, Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov also scored for Carolina. Jaccob Slavin had two assists.
Andersen stopped 21 shots for his third victory in three outings in an eight-night span since being sidelined since early November. It was his first shutout since March 5, 2023, in his ninth game this season. He has 25 career shutouts.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves as the Panthers lost for just the second time in 10 games. Florida was shut out for the fifth time this season.
Kuznetsov scored at 8:27 of the second period to give Carolina a 3-0 lead. He has seven goals and 12 assists this season.
Jarvis opened the scoring with 48.6 seconds left in the first period, scoring off a pass from Jordan Staal for his 21st of the season.
Carolina made it 2-0 just 2:46 into the second period on Necas' 21st goal. After an initial rebound, Necas drifted to the right side and, when the puck came to him, he buried the shot.
Kuznetsov picked up the secondary assist on the goal for his first point with the Hurricanes.
Svechnikov's empty-net goal came with 4:18 remaining, his 17th score of the season.
Florida played without forward Sam Bennett, who was out of the lineup for the first time since early November, with an undisclosed injury.
UP NEXT
Panthers: Hosts Tampa Bay on Saturday night.
Hurricanes: At Toronto on Saturday night to begin a three-game trip.
