"Confidence is growing," Panthers forward Anthony Duclair said after squashing the Stars. "All four lines and all the D are stepping up at the right moment. You can't forget about Bob [Sergei Bobrovsky]. He was making key saves at key moments at the beginning [of the game]. A couple bounces and it could've gone the other way. It starts with Bob, and we build out from there."
A buzzsaw in their own building, the Panthers have gone 20-3-0 at home this season.
"It's a fun place to play, and we are playing an exciting brand of hockey," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "The players are feeding off the crowd, and the crowd is feeding off the players. We want to bring an identity that South Florida is a real hard place to come in."
That was as lesson the Stars learned less than 24 hours ago.
In addition to Sam Bennett registering his second hat trick of the season, Gustav Forsling, Jonathan Huberdeau, Carter Verhaeghe and Duclair also lit the lamp against Dallas. In net, Bobrovsky improved his personal record to a stellar 18-3-3 by turning aside 29 of 30 shots.
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, Florida led 40-28 in scoring chances.
"Sometimes it's just your night," Bennett said. "Everything you touch seems to go in or generate a chance. Sometimes the puck follows you around a little bit. You've got to take advantage of those nights because they don't come around too often. It was one of those nights, for sure."
Finishing with four points (one goal, three assists) against the Stars, Huberdeau, who will be representing the Panthers at the 2022 NHL All-Star Game next month in Las Vegas, moved up into fourth place on the NHL's scoring list with 51 points, including a league-leading 37 assists.
During his seven-game point streak, he's produced four goals and 14 assists.
"Huby's an all-star for a reason," Duclair said. "He can find anybody out there."
In fifth place in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 17-17-1, the Blue Jackets, despite losing four of their last seven games overall, enter tonight's matchup feeling pretty good about themselves after kicking off their three-game road trip with a 6-0 win at Carolina on Thursday.
Leading 2-0 after 40 minutes on goals from Emil Bemstrom and Yegor Chinakhov, Columbus added four more goals in the third period against the Hurricanes for good measure as Patrik Laine, Chinakhov, Cole Sillinger and Jack Roslovic all touched twine during the final frame.
Stopping all 31 shots he faced, Elvis Merzlikins improved to 13-8-1 with a .911 save percentage.
"It started right from the first shift. We had a high compete level," Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen said after the dominant victory. "We did a lot of good things to keep the danger away."
Oliver Bjorkstrand, who has seven goals in 17 career games against Florida, leads Columbus in scoring with 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists), while Jakub Voracek ranks second with 25 points (one goal, 24 assists), and Boone Jenner resides in third with 23 points (14 goals, nine assists).
Facing off eight times in 2020-21, the Panthers owned a 7-0-1 record against the Blue Jackets.
"I don't think we really have to prove anything to anyone," Verhaeghe said of Florida's stellar start. "We're just doing our thing. We know how good we are and we're a confident group."
