In Columbus, the visiting Florida Panthers needed a late goal, three second left on the clock, from Patric Hornqvist to force extra time on Tuesday.
“This is a huge win for us,” Hornqvist said. “I think over the 65 minutes we played really good hockey, and if you keep doing that for that long of a time you know you’re going to get rewarded.”
Hornqvist finished the rally with the deciding goal in the penalty phase of the game in a 5-3 decision over the Blue Jackets.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves to get the win.
“He’s (Bobrovsky) been huge for us so far and he’s going to be huge for us the whole season,” Aleksander Barkov said. “That leadership he brings in the locker room, and by scoring big goals for us, just leading the way. It helps us a
Kevin Stenlund and Alexandre Texier had the Blue Jackets up 2-0.
“Take the point and sprint out of the building. The way we played sprint, run,” Columbus head coach John Tortorella said. “They were the better team right from the get-go. They were the faster team. They moved the puck better. Everything about their game was better.”
The Panthers are 3-0-0 to start the season.
“From start to finish we deserved that win tonight,” Florida head coach Joel Quenneville said. “We did a lot of great things. I liked our pace. I liked their purpose.”
Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe also scored for the Panthers in regulation.
Cam Atkinson put the Jackets up 3-2 before surrendering the lead late.
“It felt good, honestly,” Atkinson said. “I mean, the last couple of games I felt that I was getting back to my game.”
Joonas Korpisalo made 19 saves in the loss.
“We had a chance to win the game on the power play,” Columbus’Â Nick Foligno said. “We have to find a way. I’m tired of hearing the noise. There’s enough skill on the power play to score goals. We’ve shown that.”
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