Thomas has 2 goals, assist to help Blues end Panthers winning streak at 4

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Robert Thomas had two goals and an assist, and the St. Louis Blues stopped the Florida Panthers’ four-game winning streak with a 6-2 victory at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Jake Neighbours scored twice, and Jonatan Berggren had a goal and two assists for the Blues (14-15-8), who scored the final four goals of the game, three coming in the third period. Otto Stenberg and Pavel Buchnevich each had two assists, and Joel Hofer made 27 saves.

Asked what he was most pleased with from the game, St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said, “Just the 60-minute effort, how poised we were with pucks, how smart we were with pucks. … I think when you have success against the two-time, defending Stanley Cup champions, those habits and details that gave you success … you believe in them just so much more. That’s the benefit of having success like we did tonight.”

A.J. Greer and Sam Reinhart scored for the Panthers (19-14-2), who had won seven of eight, including a 4-3 shootout victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. Daniil Tarasov made 25 saves.

“I think we went flat-out as hard as we could for as long as we could,” said Florida coach Paul Maurice, whose team rallied Friday after trailing 3-0 midway through the third. “There wasn’t a part of our game that we could excel at. We won’t watch it again, won’t talk about it again.”

Justin Faulk put the Blues ahead for good, scoring with one second left in the second period to make it 3-2. Berggren sent the puck across the ice from the left corner, and it banked off the right boards to Faulk, who turned and scored with a slap shot from just above the right face-off circle.

“It was big,” Neighbours said of the goal. “I didn’t think we were playing bad at all in the second period. Just a couple of things weren’t going our way, they gained momentum. To get a goal, basically with no time left, is pretty big for our confidence going into the third.”

Neighbours pushed it to 4-2 at 12:02 of the third with a one-timer from the right hash marks after Brayden Schenn forced a turnover behind the Florida net.

Thomas then extended the lead to 5-2 just 51 seconds later, beating Tarasov far side with a wrist shot from the right circle at 12:53, before scoring a short-handed goal into an empty net at 16:28 for the 6-2 final.

“That’s a great team, obviously the best team in the League the past couple of years,” Thomas said. “We knew what we had to do. Even when they came back and tied it, we kept our foot down and got rewarded.”

Neighbours made it 1-0 for St. Louis at 9:59 of the first period by redirecting a point shot from Cam Fowler.

Berggren gave the Blues a 2-0 lead 1:55 into the second period. Tarasov stretched at the left post to glove Berggren’s one-timer, but the puck crossed the goal line.

“They did not give us a lot of space. Maybe it wasn’t our best game,” Florida defenseman Niko Mikkola said. “I think we started to stretch the game a little bit, and that’s not us. That was the game.”

Greer cut it to 2-1 at 7:35, tipping Jesper Boqvist’s sharp-angled shot from the right side with Hofer screened.

Reinhart tied it 2-2 on the power play at 12:45. Brad Marchand fed him for a one-timer from the right hash marks that went under the glove.

“There is not much to say,” Reinhart said. “You’re going to go through it at some points in the year. It’s all about recovery now and regrouping. We have another big one (at the Hurricanes on Tuesday) before the Christmas break. We have been playing our best hockey in the biggest moments against some of the best teams. Recovery and rest is important, especially at this time of year.”

NOTES: Fowler got his 400th career assist on Neighbours’ first goal. He is the fourth active American player to reach the mark, joining Patrick Kane (868), John Carlson (589) and J.T. Miller (461). … Thomas had his 25th career three-point game. The only active player with more for the Blues is Vladimir Tarasenko (34).