The severely depleted Blue Jackets faced the Panthers in sunny South Florida. Nylander was in the lineup after being a game-time decision, but unfortunately, there wasn’t nearly enough skill to overcome the talent gap. The 104-point team did exactly what you would expect them to do against this team.
1st Period
The Panthers scored less than a minute into the game. Off the rush, Tkachuk beat Greaves cleanly on the blocker side.
FLA Goal 1-0: Tkachuk (Ekman-Larsson, Cousins) 0:47
Werenski nearly scored a similar goal when he had a rush opportunity, but he sent the shot wide.
The Jackets were able to kill off a Nylander holding penalty, but the Panthers continued their onslaught of possession. Through 12 minutes, unblocked shot attempts were 11-3.
It was all Panthers in the first. There wasn’t a ton of goal-scoring pressure from the Panthers, but the Jackets still looked completely outmatched.
2nd Period
The first exciting thing to happen in the second period was former Jacket Kevin Stenlund going to the box for high-sticking at 7:12. Not much pressure was put on the penalty kill, and Florida was able to kill it off.
Aside from a frantic minute or two just past the halfway point, the second period was pretty boring. Well, it was up until the Panthers scored their second of the night. A two-on-one turned into a broken play, and Rodrigues out-muscled Werenski to clean up the trash in front of the net.
Jiricek would probably like to have that sequence back. He got burned along the wall and got tangled up with Werenski trying to defend the net front.
FLA Goal 2-0: Rodrigues (Lundell, Luostarinen) 17:25
Florida made it 3-0 shortly after. Barkov found Reinhart, who beat Greaves blocker side from the right faceoff dot.
FLA Goal 3-0: Reinhart (Barkov, Ekman-Larsson) 19:06
Watching this team is painful right now. Imagine actually being on the team.
3rd Period
The Panthers scored again when Tarasenko cleaned up a rebound in front of the net.
FLA Goal 4-0: Tarasenko (Forsling) 17:43
Final Thoughts
This was an old-fashioned beating. There really isn’t any other way to put it. Florida dominated every aspect of the game.
With two games left, one against Nashville and another against Carolina, there may not be much exciting hockey left.
Up Next
The Jackets head to Nashville to take on the Predators on Saturday at 8:00 PM ET.