Anton Lundell had a goal and an assist, Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves and the Florida Panthers beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 on Thursday night in Sunrise, Fla.
Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe also scored goals and Mason Marchment had two assists for Florida, which has started the season with four straight wins for the first time in franchise history.
Mikko Rantanen had a goal and Jonas Johansson stopped 34 shots in his first start of the season for the Avalanche, who have dropped three straight after winning their opener.
Colorado’s top line played together for the first time with captain Gabriel Landeskog’s return from a two-game suspension. He played with Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon, who had an assist on the Avalanche’s goal. MacKinnon missed the first two games following a positive COVID-19 test.
The Panthers opened the scoring when Marchment beat Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard to a puck to negate an icing, fed Reinhart in front, and he shut the puck past Johansson at 14:32 of the first period. It was Reinhart’s first of the season.
The Avalanche tied it in the final minute of the first when Rantanen, positioned in front of the Florida net, wristed a Girard rebound by Bobrovsky. It was Rantanen’s first of the season.
The game stayed tied until midway through the second period. With Rantanen off for goaltender interference, Bennett floated into the slot and snapped a shot by Johansson to make it 2-1 at 9:04. It was his fourth of the season.
Verhaeghe gave the Panthers a cushion just before the end of the second. With Colorado trying to clear the zone Verhaeghe took the puck from Landeskog along the boards, skated between the circles and sent a low shot by Johansson at 19:13. It was his third of the season.
Johansson came off for an extra skater with 1:52 left in the third period and the Avalanche had a couple of chances, but Lundell sealed it when he scored into an empty net at 18:47. The tally was his second of the season.
–Field Level Media