Tkachuk, Verhaeghe propel Panthers past Hurricanes

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist for the Florida Panthers in their third straight win, 5-2 against the Carolina Hurricanes at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday.

Aleksander Barkov also had a goal and an assist, and Uvis Balinskis scored his first NHL goal for the Panthers (8-4-1), who are 6-1-1 in their past eight games. Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves.

“Our lines were going today, and we played the right way,” said Barkov, the Florida captain. “We know every time we play against Carolina that it is going to be a tough grind from start to finish. I thought we had a pretty good grind tonight.”

Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Sebastian Aho scored, and Jordan Martinook had two assists for the Hurricanes (8-6-0). Antti Raanta, who won his previous three starts, made 30 saves.

“They were good, we were bad, and that combination is not good,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “That’s not going to work. Give them credit; I thought they played exactly the way they wanted to. We never got anything going.”

Kotkaniemi gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 1:20 of the first period on a rebound in front after Bobrovsky made an initial save against Jesper Fast.

Tkachuk tied it 1-1 at 3:01. After Anton Lundell won a puck battle behind the net, Verhaeghe fed a streaking Tkachuk in the slot, and he shot it over a sprawling Raanta.

Balinskis, a 27-year-old defenseman playing his 11th NHL game, gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead with his first goal and point at 18:53, tapping Tkachuk’s saucer feed past Raanta.

After the game, Balinskis said his phone was filled with messages. He said he expects to wake up to many more Saturday since his goal happened so early in the morning in his native Latvia.

“It is a dream come for me, for my family, for everyone,” said Balinskis, who signed as a free agent with the Panthers during their playoff run last spring. “It is an amazing feeling. It was a good play; we had a 2-on-1 with [Tkachuk] and he found me backdoor. I just needed to score.”

Barkov scored for a third straight game and made it 3-1 at 7:08 on a rebound in the left circle after Raanta stopped Evan Rodrigues’ shot from a sharp angle. It was Barkov’s fifth goal of the season.

Aho cut it to 3-2 at 16:40 when Brady Skjei’s shot from the point went off Martinook’s stick in front and found Aho alone at the far side of the net.

But Verhaeghe restored the two-goal lead at 13:18 of the third period on a redirection of Gustav Forsling’s shot to make it 4-2. The goal was awarded following a video review after being waved off on the ice for a high stick.

Kevin Stenlund scored an empty-net goal at 16:18 for the 5-2 final.

“I thought [Florida] was better in every area, and it starts with the compete level,” Aho said. “You can look up and down the roster and we could have been better. Our intention may have been there, but our execution was not. A lot of times there are crucial 50-50s which went their way, and they got momentum off of it. We spent way too much time in our zone.”

NOTES: It was the first game between the teams since Florida swept Carolina in four straight in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Final last season. … Panthers forward Sam Bennett had two assists. … Florida is 5-1-0 at home. … Tkachuk and Forsling were each plus-3. … Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce played 18:38 in his first game since Oct. 19 after having lower-body surgery. He replaced defenseman Tony DeAngelo, who was scratched. … Aho finished minus-3 in 17:40.