First period dooms Florida Panthers in loss to Chicago Blackhawks to end road trip
The Florida Panthers fell behind early after a dreadful first period and never recovered in a 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday at United Center to cap a three-game road trip.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Matthew Tkachuk both scored in the third period to give the Panthers a chance but it wasn’t enough to complete the unlikely comeback bid.
Florida falls to 5-4-1 and saw its four-game point streak snapped. The Panthers began the road trip with an overtime loss to the Boston Bruins and a win over the Detroit Red Wings.
Chicago improves to 4-6-0.
The Panthers gave up three goals in the span of just over six minutes in the middle of the first period to fall behind 3-0.
Nick Foligno opened scoring against Anthony Stolarz by tapping in a puck in front of the that bounced off Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling 6:25 into the game. About three minutes later, Nikita Zaitsev fired a shot from the slot with the game at four-on-four to double Chicago’s lead. Taylor Hall capped scoring in the frame with 7:21 left in the period.
Prior to Saturday, the Panthers had allowed just four total goals in the first period in their first nine games. Against the Blackhawks, they were outshot 14-6 in the opening 20 minutes.
Connor Bedard, the Blackhawks’ 18-year-old rookie phenom and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NHL draft, added to Chicago’s lead with an uncontested shot from the left circle 5:29 into the second period.
The Panthers dominated possession and offensive chances over the final 40 minutes, outshooting Chicago 34-10 in the second and third periods.
They finally broke through against Blackhawks goaltender Petr Mrazek on an Ekman-Larsson slap shot from the point on the power play with 13:27 left in regulation.
Tkachuk then cut Florida’s deficit to two goals with a backhanded shot from just in front of the net on a feed from Carter Verhaeghe. The goal was Tkachuk’s 500th career point — 118 of which have come in 89 games with Florida.
But the Panthers got no closer, and Chicago’s Philipp Kurashev capped scoring with an empty-net goal with 11 seconds left to play.
Up next
The Panthers play four games next week, three of which will be at Amerant Bank Arena.
The stretch starts with a Monday home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. After that, the Panthers face the Washington Capitals on the road Wednesday before hosting the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday and Blackhawks on Sunday.
.JPG)