RECAP: Blues 5, Panthers 4

ST. LOUIS – Just short.

After battling back in the second part of the game, the Florida Panthers fell 5-4 to the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Thursday after Jimmy Snuggerud scored the game winner on the power play with just nine seconds remaining in the game.

With the loss, the Panthers now sit at 28-22-3 and eight points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, with two games in hand.

“Urgency is high,” Sam Reinhart said after the loss. “You’re going to need it. These next couple of games are as important as ever.”

Breaking the ice early, A.J. Greer continued his career season by putting in his 11th goal on a rebound at 3:12.

Answering back soon after, Jake Neighbours scored on a breakaway at 4:46 to make it 1-1.

Putting the Blues ahead 2-1, Jordan Kyrou found the back of the net at 7:51.

An active scoring first period, Reinhart scored his 27th of the season on the power play at 9:22 to bring the score back to even at 2-2.

Assisting on the goal in his hometown, Matthew Tkachuk recorded his 400th career assist.

Per NHL Stats, Tkachuk (648 games) took the second fewest number of games by an active American player to reach the mark, behind Patrick Kane (636 games).

“It’s nice to have him back,” Uvis Balinskis said of Tkachuk’s night. “He’s in his hometown and probably fired up to play here.”

Regaining the lead for the Blues, Jonatan Berggren made it 3-2 while four-on-four at 14:27.

“They had a really good start to the game and we didn’t,” Balinskis said of the opening 20 minutes.

Carrying the lead into the second period, Oskar Sundqvist extended the lead for the Blues to 4-2 just 41 seconds into the frame.

Inching the Panthers back, Tkachuk deked out Joel Hofer for his first of season at 16:52 to make it 4-3.

Not stopping there, Tkachuk buried his second of the game on the power play at 18:39 to even the score at 4-4 just before the end of the period.

“That’s what he does,” Reinhart said of Tkachuk’s two goals. “He gets in around the net and makes things happen.”

For nearly another period, the game would remain at 4-4.

Going on the power play with less than two minutes remaining, the Panthers penalty kill nearly pushed the game into overtime with an incredible effort before Snuggerud lit the lamp with just nine seconds remaining to give the Blues the 5-4 win.

“It's heartbreaking because you fight back and get into it, the way we did, and get so close to killing it off,” said head coach Paul Maurice. “Great blocks and great battles, so that's a tough one.”

THEY SAID IT

“We are paying the price for a tough schedule and a lot of guys out of the lineup. We’ve run some guys so hard that they’re doing it on will now.” – Paul Maurice

“It’s disappointing now to let some points slip away.” – Sam Reinhart

CATS STATS

- Sam Reinhart led the team with four hits

- Matthew Tkachuk logged 23:41 time on ice

- Sam Bennett won 64.7% of his faceoffs

- Nine different skaters recorded a point

WHAT’S NEXT?

Back to Florida.

The Panthers will look to pick up two points as they host the Winnipeg Jets at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday for Kids Day at 4 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.