Panthers rally to defeat Blue Jackets, start season with three wins

COLUMBUS-- The Florida Panthers have started a season with three wins for the first time after a 4-3 shootout victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday.

Patric Hornqvist ended the game in the fifth round with his first NHL shootout goal after he tied the game 3-3 with three seconds left in the third period.
"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."
On the tying goal, the Panthers kept the puck in the zone after an icing and Aaron Ekblad's shot was saved by Joonas Korpisalo. The rebound popped up and Hornqvist batted the puck into the net.
Anthony Duclair had two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves for the Panthers against their former team.
Korpisalo made 28 saves for the Blue Jackets (2-2-3), who had a 2-0 first-period lead.
"Take the point and sprint out of the building. The way we played sprint, run," Columbus 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."
Florida did not begin its season until Jan. 17 after its first two games against the Dallas Stars were postponed. The Panthers also had two games against the Carolina Hurricanes postponed, all because of COVID-19 issues with their opponents.
"From start to finish we deserved that win tonight," Florida coach Joel Quenneville said. "We did a lot of great things. I liked our pace. I liked their purpose."
The Blue Jackets scored on their first two shots.
Kevin Stenlund made it 1-0 at 2:11 of the first period. Mikko Koivu, on his first shift for the Blue Jackets, passed along the right boards to Stenlund, who faked a pass then scored five-hole from deep in the circle.

Alexandre Texier made it 2-0 at 9:17. He was at the edge of the crease when a shot by Oliver Bjorkstrand deflected off him.
Carter Verhaeghe got Florida within 2-1 at 13:11, then set up Aleksander Barkov for his first goal at 3:53 of the second for a 2-2 tie.
Cam Atkinson gave Columbus a 3-2 lead at 1:20 of the third period with a shorthanded goal.
"It felt good, honestly," he said of his first goal of the season. "I mean, the last couple of games I felt that I was getting back to my game."
Hornqvist scored with Bobrovsky off for an extra attacker. The forward, who was acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sept. 24, is the first player to score four goals in his first three games with the Panthers.

"He's been huge for us so far and he's going to be huge for us the whole season," 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 lot to have a veteran guy like him out there on the ice and in the locker room."
The Panthers killed a Blue Jackets power play in overtime that started with 2:16 left.
"We had a chance to win the game on the power play," Blue Jackets captain 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."
The Blue Jackets were 0-for-6, including late in the first period and 1:30 into the second when they had a four-minute power play after Owen Tippett was penalized for high-sticking Texier.
NOTES: Florida joined the NHL in 1993-94; it won its first two games five times previously, most recently in 2016-17. ... Hornqvist was 0-for-6 in the shootout, with his last attempt during the 2014-15 season. ... Atkinson has scored 13 NHL shorthanded goals, one from tying the Blue Jackets record held by Rick Nash. Atkinson has scored 199 NHL goals in 578 games. ... Florida forward Alexander Wennberg returned to play at Columbus for the first time. He played his first 415 NHL games for the Blue Jackets before signing a one-year contract with the Panthers on Oct. 9. He had an assist on Verhaeghe's goal. ... Koivu signed a one-year contract Oct. 10 after 15 seasons with the Minnesota Wild. He missed the first six games on the NHL COVID-19 protocol list.