Reinhart's 4 points lift Panthers past Blackhawks

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Sam Reinhart had two goals and two assists for the Florida Panthers, who won their fourth straight game with a 4-3 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson had a goal and an assist, and Evan Rodrigues and Matthew Tkachuk each had two assists for the Panthers (9-4-1). Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves.

“Everyone is buying in,’’ Reinhart said. “We have some core guys from last year, which makes it kind of easier for the new guys to kind of buy into it. Everyone has certainly done that early on.’’

Connor Bedard scored two goals, and Arvid Soderblom made 28 saves for the Blackhawks (5-8-0).

Ekman-Larsson gave Florida a 1-0 lead just 39 seconds into the first period when he one-timed a pass from Reinhart into an open net. 

“We didn’t like our start,’’ Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. “They were harder and better, and we just let them be. It’s not that we weren’t trying, but we were sloppy. They played a little on top of us, were a little more physical, but we corrected that.”

Jason Dickinson tied it 1-1 at 7:04, beating Bobrovsky five-hole from the front of the net.

Reinhart put the Panthers back in front 2-1 at 11:54 with a power-play goal. He has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) during a four-game multipoint streak.

“He has this great balance of intensity, and at other times, he thinks his way into finding holes,’’ Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of Reinhart. “He has such great hands. I am happy for him. He has worked so hard to get himself to this point.”

Bedard tied it 2-2 at 19:04 of the first when he stripped the puck from Panther’s center Kevin Stenlund in the offensive zone and lifted a quick shot over Bobrovsky’s glove.

Reinhart responded to make it 3-2 at 7:00 of the second period, but Bedard tied it 3-3 at 8:18.

Bedard has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past two games.

Carter Verhaeghe put Florida ahead 4-3 at 2:44 of the third period, tucking in a rebound in the crease on a power play. 

“It’s really frustrating,’’ Bedard said. “A big win in Tampa (5-3 on Thursday) and I think we want to start stringing them together. Obviously, we haven’t won two in a row. It’s frustrating whenever you lose, but I think they probably deserved it more than us. We got our chances and we were in the game, which is a good thing, but it’s frustrating for sure.”

NOTES: Reinhart leads the NHL with nine multipoint games this season. He also has 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) in 14 games this season, tying Tkachuk (2022-23) and Jonathan Huberdeau (2020-21) for the fewest games needed to reach 20 points in Panthers history. … Bedard has nine goals in 13 games this season, including seven in his past six games. … Florida was 2-for-4 on the power play. Chicago was 0-for-3.