Panthers Win Streak Snapped By Columbus
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COLUMBUS (CBSMiami/AP) — The first period was exactly what the Florida Panthers wanted to do in Columbus.
It was all downhill after that.
Joonas Korpisalo stopped 38 shots, five Columbus players had a goal and an assist and the Blue Jackets took over in the third period to rout the Panthers 7-3 on Thursday night.
Markus Hannikainen broke a 3-3 tie early in the third when he spun around and swept the puck past Florida goalie Roberto Luongo from the edge of the blue paint. Anthony Duclair and Josh Anderson followed with breakaway scores, and Boone Jenner added an empty-netter to seal it. Columbus picked up a point in its sixth straight game (4-0-2) and is in first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Florida ended a five-game winning streak, even with Mike Hoffman breaking a franchise record with a point in his 14th straight game.
Duclair had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, as did Pierre Luc-Dubois, Cam Atkinson, Brandon Dubinsky and Jenner.
Luongo had 30 saves, and Nick Bjugstad, Aaron Ekblad and Keith Yandle scored for the Panthers.
Bjugstad got credit for the opening goal 1:44 into the game when he deflected in a long shot from the left point by Mike Matheson. Ekblad tapped in the second goal five minutes later on a power play, with Hoffman providing the handy feed from atop the right circle.
Atkinson made it 2-1 with a short-handed goal 28 seconds into the period, taking a pass from Alexander Wennberg on a rush after a Florida turnover. Dubinsky evened the score a few minutes later when batted a shot between Luongo's pads.
Dubois gave Columbus the lead after Luongo ventured out of the crease to block a breakaway shot by Duclair. Dubois swooped in and knocked the puck in the net before the goalie could recover.
Yandle tied the game again later in the second on a power play when he went between Korpisalo's pads with a shot from the high slot before Columbus cracked the game open in the final period.
NOTES: Dubois has seven goals and four assists in his past 10 games. ... Florida has scored at least one power-play goal in each of its last seven games. ... F Zac Dalpe and G Jean-Francois Berube were called up from the Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate in Cleveland because of F Artemi Panarin and G Sergei Bobrovsky being sidelined by illness. F Riley Nash also was out with an illness ... Columbus also this week sent D Adam Clendening down to Cleveland and brought up D Gabriel Carlsson. ... Panthers scratches included forwards Michael Haley and Maxim Mamim and D Mark Pysyk.
UP NEXT
Florida: At New York Rangers on Saturday.
Columbus: At Carolina on Saturday.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
