Sam Bennett scored twice and Lars Eller and Sam Reinhart added a goal apiece to lead the visiting Florida Panthers to a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
Aaron Ekblad added two assists and Jacob Markstrom made 37 saves as the Panthers overcame a 38-28 shot disadvantage to snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 6-0-0 when leading after two periods.
Ivan Provorov scored and Cam Talbot stopped 24 shots for the Blue Jackets, who dropped their second straight game.
Bennett opened the scoring two minutes into the second period with a power-play goal. Anton Lundell maneuvered past three Blue Jackets through the neutral zone before feeding Bennett, who snapped a shot past Talbot.
Charlie Coyle was whistled for tripping moments earlier, giving the Panthers the game’s first power play.
Florida doubled its lead just over two minutes later when Carter Verhaeghe gathered a loose puck and slid a slick pass through the legs of Provorov to a trailing Eller, who buried the puck in the back of the net.
After Columbus won the faceoff, Sean Monahan’s shot was tipped in traffic and fluttered off the post.
Columbus cut Florida’s lead in half with 18.1 seconds remaining in the second period when Provorov used screens by Valeri Nichushkin and Dmitri Voronkov to slip a backhand shot over Markstrom’s pad.
With seven minutes remaining, Brady Tkachuk and Adam Fantilli were assessed roughing penalties.
On the ensuing 4-on-4, Bennett took advantage of the extra space, carrying the puck from the neutral zone to the faceoff dot before ripping a wrist shot just under the crossbar to give Florida a 3-1 lead.
Reinhart scored into the empty net with 2:16 remaining to cap the scoring.
Earlier in the third period, Bennett was called for interference at 6:41, but Markstrom turned aside three shots during Columbus’ power play.
A scoreless first period saw the Panthers record 10 shots and the Blue Jackets register nine.
