"They didn't stop the whole game," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said of his team's effort. "The energy from the guys was phenomenal and it was fun to be a part of it."
Improving to 26-7-5, Florida has scored at least five goals in six of its last seven contests.
"The joy that they're playing with right now is contagious," Brunette said.
Pouncing on the Blue Jackets right after the puck dropped, Carter Verhaeghe put the Panthers up 1-0 when he sent a quick shot past Elvis Merzlikins, who was down on the ice after venturing out of his crease, and into the empty cage to break the ice just 46 seconds into the first period.
With the Panthers on the power play after Ryan Lomberg drew a penalty less than two minutes later, Anthony Duclair doubled the lead to 2-0 when he took a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau and blasted in a one-timer from the high slot for his team-best 16th goal of the season at 2:07.
Sent zooming up the ice after receiving an excellent stretch pass on the penalty kill, MacKenzie Weegar then pocketed the 100th point of his NHL career when he whipped a pinpoint wrist shot from the right circle into the cage for a shorthanded goal to extend Florida's lead to 3-0 at 9:27.
Making sure that Merzlikins would not even make it to the first intermission, Verhaeghe chased the Blue Jackets netminder from the game when he faced down a defender and wired home an absolute laser of a wrist shot from near the top of the left circle to make it a 4-0 game at 13:28.
Following that goal, Joonas Korpisalo took over in net for Columbus.
"I think confidence is a big thing in the NHL, and I can tell you firsthand that every guy in that room has a lot of confidence," Weegar said. "All four lines, all six D, Bob and Knighter, we all have a lot of confidence right now. Even the coaching staff has a lot of confidence back there. They've done a great job getting us ready and making adjustments throughout the game."
In the second period, the scoring spree continued when Jonathan Huberdeau cashed in on a rebound after Sam Bennett was robbed on the doorstep to make it 5-0 at 2:02. Later in the period, Anton Lundell got in on the action when he buried a shot from the slot to push the lead to 6-0.
On the power play early in the third period, the Blue Jackets spoiled a shutout bid for Sergei Bobrovsky, who finished with 28 saves to improve to 19-3-3, when Gustav Nyquist tucked in a rebound at 2:11. But a little over a minute later, Bennett kicked off another scoring surge for the Panthers when he received a pass from Duclair before beating Korpisalo to make it 7-1 at 3:40.
Continuing to pile it on, Lundell set off the goal horn again when he swept in a shot to make it 8-1 at 7:33. Soon after, Lomberg, who was flying up and down the ice all night, was rewarded with a goal when his centering feed deflected off a defender and into the net to make it 9-1 at 10:14.
"We played as a team," Lundell said. "It was a good job from the first shift to the last shift."
At 10:50, Boone Jenner scored to cut the deficit for the Blue Jackets down to 9-2, but from then on out the Cats continued to control the game until the final buzzer sent rats flying onto the ice.
Owning the best points percentage in the NHL (.750), Florida, which has won 21 of its first 24 games at home, will now hit the road for a five-game road trip beginning on Tuesday at Calgary.
"We feel great," Weegar said. "I think we've just kind of established that dominance at home, and we're just having fun with it every single day. When we come to the rink, everybody's just having fun. We've realized how good we are and how fast we can skate. It's a great feeling."
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's win in Sunrise…
