RECAP: Canucks 5, Panthers 2

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Unable to claw back after falling behind 3-1 in the first period, the Florida Panthers suffered a 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.

Starting off their road trip 0-2-0, the Panthers now sit at 33-31-3 in the standings.

Back from injury, Seth Jones manned Florida’s blue line for the first time since Jan. 2.

"It felt awesome,” said Jones, who saw 20:16 of ice time in his return. “I was watching for way too long. I felt decent. My lungs and legs were a little dead there in the first period, but overall made some decent plays. Just trying to focus on the defensive side of the puck.”

Taking advantage of an early power play, the Canucks broke the ice when Elias Pettersson buried a blistering one-timer from the right circle to make it 1-0 at 3:49 of the first period.

Pushing back for the Panthers, Matthew Tkachuk, who was left all alone in front of the net after Carter Verhaeghe forced a turnover, beat Kevin Lankinen to make it 1-1 at 11:41.

Striking again on the power play, Pettersson put the Canucks back on top when his shot clipped off a defender and slipped past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 2-1 at 13:40.

The goal was the 200^th of Pettersson’s career.

Finding himself in the perfect spot after the Canucks managed to keep the puck in the zone, Marco Rossi, who had stayed behind the play, found himself all alone in front of Bobrovsky, took a pass from Brock Boeser and scored to push the lead to 3-1 at 17:46.

A hot start on home ice, Vancouver recorded its fourth three-goal first period of the season.

“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” Jones said. “If a team gets up, the crowd gets behind them and then they really tighten up defensively and put more emphasis on that side of the puck.”

Back in action after missing the first stop on the road trip due to an injury, Sam Bennett cut into Florida’s deficit in the second period when he beat Lankinen to make it 3-2 at 11:28.

With the goal, Bennett earned his second straight 25-goal campaign.

“They know each other’s game and can at least push the agenda forward for us,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the production from Bennett, Tkachuk and Verhaeghe. “Your top-end guys have to perform every night in this league, but certainly when we’re undermanned.”

But just 2:59 later, Aatu Raty scored to put the Canucks up 4-2 at 14:27.

“We left guys alone three times in front of our net,” Maurice said of the unusual breakdowns. “I don’t remember ever seeing that. That being said, I thought their guy (goaltender) played well. We had some action around there net and couldn’t get it to go.”

With the Panthers trying to close the gap in the third period, Lankinen came up with several key stops for the Canucks, including shutting the door on a few attempts from the goal line.

Finishing with 21 saves, Lankinen improved to 8-3-2 in his career against the Panthers.

In Florida’s net, Bobrovsky, who appeared in his 800^th career NHL game, made 17 saves.

“It’s my life,” said Bobrovsky, who’s just the 18^th goaltender in NHL history to hit that mark. “I love everything. I love the preparation. I love the emotions, the emotions I have in the games. Sometimes you get emotions like tonight and it’s tough, but then you wake up in the morning and try to work hard to get out of this and focus on the net shot and build the good wave. It’s ups and downs, but it’s fun. It’s still inside of me. It’s still the little kid that loves the game.”

With 5:35 left, Drew O’Connor scored from the top of the blue paint to make it 5-2.

THEY SAID IT

“I liked Nolan Foote. I thought he was good. Four shots on goal. He had a bunch of hits. I didn’t mind that at all.” – Paul Maurice on Nolan Foote’s debut with Florida

“We had some setbacks along the way. Just trying to get it in a good enough position to take hits really. As a defenseman, you take a lot of contact in the game, and the collar bone is a big part of that.” – Seth Jones on recovering from a broken collar bone

“I think it was the battle in front of the net. They got three goals in front of our net. It was tough. It’s nice to have Jonesy (Seth Jones) back. He’s a big piece of our team.” – Sergei Bobrovsky on tonight’s loss

CATS STATS

- Sam Bennett has scored six goals in his last eight games.

- Matthew Tkachuk has recorded multiple points in three of his last five games.

- Mike Benning blocked a team-high three shots.

- Luke Kunin went 7-for-11 (63.6%) in the faceoff circle.

- Mackie Samoskevich had a team-high four hits.

- The Panthers led 53-30 in shot attempts at 5-on-5.

- Tomas Nosek skated in his 500^th career NHL game.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Grab your popcorn.

Meeting for a rematch of both the 2024 and 2025 Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers will face-off against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET.

The official watch party will be at Geronimos in Davie.

For details, click HERE.