5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers defeat Blackhawks, sweep road trip

CHICAGO -The Panthers are heading home with six points in their pocket.
After opening up their three-game trip with huge wins at Carolina and Minnesota, the Panthers capped off their perfect road swing with a 5-2 victory over the Blackhawks at United Center on Sunday.

Improving to 35-10-5, the Panthers, who currently own a five-point cushion atop the Atlantic Division, have won seven of their last nine games on the road and 17 of their last 21 overall.
Already the best home team in the NHL, that magic is starting to make its way to the road.
"I thought we did an excellent job this whole trip of playing road hockey," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "Whatever they give us, we're taking. We're not forcing issues. It's kind of grinding through it. Some of these games maybe it wasn't our best stretch of hockey, but we found ways to score and do the right things."
Finding the back of the net in all three games on the trip, Aaron Ekblad, who paces Florida's defensemen with 13 goals, opened the scoring this afternoon when he blasted a slick centering feed from Sam Reinhart right past Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 1-0 at 16:33 of the first period.
Getting that goal back for the Blackhawks with just 32 seconds left in the period, Patrick Kane snuck a shot past Sergei Bobrosky, who turned aside 11 of 12 shots in the opening 20 minutes of action, from a razor-sharp angle to even the game up at 1-1 going into the first intermission.
In the second period, the Panthers regained the lead when Brandon Montour took a pass from Aleksander Barkov and whipped a long shot from beyond the circles that, seemingly catching Fleury by surprise, ricocheted off the left post and into the cage to make it a 2-1 game at 7:26.
Later in the period, the Panthers showed their toughness when, after Mason Marchment was elbowed in the head, Reinhart jumped right into action to defend him, dropping the gloves for the first time in his NHL career and landing several consecutive punches on Calvin de Haan.
"It says everything about our team," Brunette said of the moment. "We care for each other, and we stick up for each other."
Playing 4-on-4 at the start of the third period, the Panthers extended their lead when MacKenzie Weegar caught just enough of a pass from Carter Verhaeghe and one-timed a shot that trickled past Fleury and across the goal line to make it 3-1 just 50 seconds after the puck had dropped.
Bringing the Blackhawks back to within a goal, Caleb Jones sent a shot through Bobrovsky's five-hole at 12:38 to make it 3-2. Later stomping out that comeback attempt, Barkov and Anton Lundell then each scored empty-netters at 18:12 and 18:51, respectively, to lock in the 5-2 win.

Over their 3-0-0 trip, the Panthers outscored the opposition 14-6.
"We've really been closing games like that," Weegar said confidently. "Everyone's been really focused and really prepared in all aspects of the game. … We've got to keep it going. We've got a lot of away games in the last half of the season. We've just got to keep building on that."
Here are five takeaways from Sunday's win in the Windy City…

1. EK'S BIG DAY

I don't know if it's the hotels or long flights, but the road clearly agrees with Ekblad.
After lighting the lamp in wins over the Hurricanes and Wild, the Norris Trophy contender found the back of the net for the third straight game with a heavy goal in the first period this afternoon.
With the tally, Ekblad moved into a tie for second among NHL defensemen in goals with 13.

"He's honestly just been incredible all season," Weegar said of his longtime defensive partner. "He just gets better and better. I just want to keep seeing success from him, and hopefully he's in the Norris Trophy talks. He really deserves it."
Finishing with a goal and an assist against the Blackhawks, Ekblad is now on a five-game point streak in which he's recorded three goals and five assists. Producing at nearly a point-per-game pace, he's already set a new career-high with 47 points, which places fifth among NHL blueliners.
When he was on the ice at 5-on-5 this afternoon, Florida led 21-11 in shot attempts.

2. STILL SHINING

Who has personally victimized more people at this point: Regina George or Florida's third line?
Setting up the opening goal with some "fetch" puck movement, Marchment dished a pass to Reinhart, who then rifled the puck to Ekblad for a one-timer to make it 1-0 in the first period.
Although he wasn't credited with an assist, Lundell also helped out on the play by clearing the way for Reinhart's sweet dish by freeing up the passing lane with a big stick lift on Seth Jones.
Also strong on the defensive side of the puck, that line limited the Blackhawks to just four shot attempts over the 8:58 they were on the ice together at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Since Jan. 25, Marchment (nine goals, seven assists), Reinhart (five goals, seven assists) and Lundell (two goal, nine assists) have combined for 16 goals and 23 assists in just eight games.

3. THROUGH TRAFFIC

How many teams have a defenseman on their third pair that can do this?
Collecting a drop-pass from the captain, Montour found a shooting lane from just below the blue line and threaded a shot down the slot that sailed through a pair of defenders before going off the post and into the back of the net to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead early in the second period.

"A couple guys in front there, and I don't think he was really expecting it," Montour said when asked to break down the score after the game. "I had a little bit of room and took a quick wrister. From what I saw, I don't think [Fleury] really saw it. It hit the post, so luckily it went in."
Hitting the 20-point mark for the first time since the 2018-19 season, Montour has produced five goals and 15 assists in 49 games. Seeing 18:16 of ice time in Chicago, he also contributed two blocked shots to the winning effort. Of Florida's five goals today, three came from defensemen.
"When they get going like that, they're a dangerous group," Brunette said of the D corps.

4. RAINING GOALS

This afternoon's forecast called for goals.
Taking a break from his duties as the team's new unofficial weatherman, Weegar provided the Panthers with an important insurance goal less than a minute into the third period when he one-timed a shot that caught a piece of Fleury before trickling into the net to increase the lead to 3-1.

"Really happy to see that we're becoming a strong road team," Weegar said.
His 30th point of the season, Weegar has tallied five goals and 25 assists in 50 games. Doing a bit of everything alongside Ekblad on the team's top-defensive pairing, he sits first on the team in blocked shots (101) and takeaways (59), while also throwing the second-most hits (122).
In the end, his goal this afternoon held up as the sixth game-winner of his career.

5. BIG TRIP BOB

It was three games, three wins for Bobrovsky on this road trip.
Standing tall while backstopping the Panthers to wins at Carolina, Minnesota and Chicago, he turned aside 62 of 68 combined shots for a .912 save percentage. Tied for first in the NHL with 26 wins, he's posted a 14-1-1 record over his last 16 starts, including a 7-1-1 mark on the road.
Making 22 saves against the Blackhawks, he went 2-for-2 on shots from high-danger areas.
"He's been great all season," Brunette said during the trip.