5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers 5, Bruins 2

SUNRISE, Fla. --Spencer Knight made 37 saves and the power play netted a season-high three goals as the Florida Panthers secured a 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins at FLA Live Arena on Wednesday.
"We built in that game," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of his team's steady progression throughout the contest. "What happened is Spencer Knight was really strong in the first period. You get that good feeling from your goaltender, and I think we really fed off that."
For a quick recap of the game, click
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To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. REINHART ON A ROLL

No one on the Panthers is carrying a hotter stick than No. 13 right now.
Netting his fourth power-play goal in the last five games, Reinhart opened the scoring and brought the building to life just 1:49 into the first period when he deposited a pass from Matthew Tkachuk into the back of the net from right on the doorstep to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
In the last eight games, Reinhart has scored a team-high six goals.

"I thought he was the quiet fantastic player on our bench," Maurice said. "Just on work ethic, intelligence, smart hands, and the scoring on top of it. The hockey that he played tonight was fantastic."
After leading the Panthers with 16 power-play goals in 2021-22, Reinhart has been getting back into that same groove once again this season. With the Panthers going 11-for-30 (36.7%) on the man advantage since Nov. 6, a team-leading five of those goals have been scored by Reinhart.

2. LUNDELL LIGHTS THE LAMP

Not all the damage was done on the power play against the Bruins.
Finding the back of the net for the Panthers at 5-on-5, Anton Lundell put the Panthers back on top at 4:41 of the second period when he capped off a smooth tic-tac-toe passing sequence with Nick Cousins and Reinhart by rifling a wrist shot past Jeremy Swayman to make it a 2-1 game.

"It's good for him," Maurice said. "He built in the game. His second and third period was very, very strong. For young players to have a first that maybe you don't love and not call it a night or wait until the next night to be good is really important. He dug in there in the second. I'm glad he scored. That'll be the thing he probably remembers, but his compete went way up."
Building off an outstanding rookie season in 2021-22, Lundell, who only just turned 21 back in October, has recorded 10 points (two goals, eight assists) so far this season. Always very active up front, he's registered at least one shot on goal in all 20 games that he's played in 2022-23.
Against Boston, Lundell also recoded one block, one takeaway and one hit.

3. BARKOV MATCHES MELLANBY

Wearing jerseys inspired by the '90s, this milestone seemed fitting.
Tying Scott Mellanby -- who captained the Cats from 1997-01 -- for the most power-play goals in franchise history, Barkov netted his 66th career goal on the man advantage when he tipped a shot past Swayman to increase the lead to 3-1 at 15:31 of the second period.

"If you get the goals, you're going to win the game," Barkov said.
Increasing his point total to 18 (five goals, 13 assists) this season, Barkov has racked up two goals and five assists over his last four games. Winning 13 of 23 faceoffs against Boston, the former Selke Trophy winner has finished above 50% in the dot in 15 of 19 games this season.
"We needed some wins because we've been out-shooting opponents and playing really well, but just not getting the wins," Barkov said. "Today, I think we deserved to win. We played a solid game. We just need to keep going and find new ways to win."

4. TKACHUK ON A RUN

Can Tkachuk be stopped?
At the moment, it seems unlikely.
Pushing his goal streak to four games, Tkachuk extended the lead to 4-1 when he re-directed a shot from Barkov past Swayman from right outside the blue paint at 19:46 of the second period.
Of the four goals he's scored during his streak, three have been tip-ins.

"Within two or three feet of the net, he gets his stick on everything," Maurice.
Leading the Panthers and tied for eighth in the NHL in scoring, Tkachuk has produced 27 points (nine goals, 18 assists) in 18 games. On a five-game point streak, he's logged four goals and six assists during that run. In four of those five games, he's registered multiple points.
Against Boston, Tkachuk and Barkov each notched three points.
"When aren't they going? They're fantastic," Ekblad said of the duo. "Every night they're giving it their all. If it's not going in, that's just the way it is. Their game doesn't change. Consistency is key for them."

5. THE KNIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING

From the moment he made his first save, you could tell Knight was dialed in.
After turning aside 18 of 19 shots in the first period, Knight went on to add 19 more saves over the next two periods to help the Panthers lock down the 5-2 win over the Bruins.
Of his 37 saves in the game, 13 of them were considered high-danger, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
"He was huge in the first, and I thought earlier in the second they had some really good looks that he came up huge on," Tkachuk said. "The game was 1-0 us, 1-1, 2-1 us, and he made some huge saves to allow us to get that lead. He was unreal tonight."
With the only two goals he surrendered coming when the Bruins had a 5-on-3 advantage on the power play, Knight successfully stopped all 32 shots that he stared down at even strength.
"He's very calm," Barkov said. "Everybody knows he's still a young goalie, but whenever he's there you just have that confidence in him because he's so calm. He makes the saves. He makes the first save. Everybody trusts him. It's really good to have that type of guy in the net."
In 10 appearances this season, Knight owns a 6-3-1 record with a .922 save percentage.

BONUS: EKBLAD'S MILESTONE

Putting a bow on a big night for the Panthers, Ekblad recorded the 100th goal of his NHL career when he lobbed a long shot into Boston's empty net to make it 5-2 late in the third period.
With Ekblad needing just 563 games to hit that mark, Erik Karlsson is the only active defenseman in the NHL to get to 100 goals faster.
"Really happy that it comes in a win so that you can smile about it," Ekblad said. "I don't think I've ever scored an empty-net goal, so it's funny for that to happen now."