RECAP: Panthers 6, Coyotes 2

SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers put on a show for their home fans once again during a 6-2 beatdown of the Arizona Coyotes at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday.

Winning each of their last two games, the Panthers now sit at 29-14-4.

“I thought we brought it tonight and brought it from the start,” Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “It was good to see everyone pitch in. It was a really good group effort.”

Achieving an impressive milestone, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice also surpassed Barry Trotz to claim second place on the NHL’s all-time games coached list with his 1,813th game behind the bench.

“I’ve had a bunch of other numbers and they don’t necessarily resonate a whole lot, but for whatever reason today’s did,” Maurice said. “That’s a lot of really good people that I’ve worked with and a lot of games that my family has had to grind through just as much as me. Pro sports is a wonderful place, but not a particularly forgiving place to work. To get to that number, I would say it’s special to me.”

With Nick Cousins still in concussion protocol after being boarded by Coyotes forward Jason Zucker in their last meeting on Jan. 2 in Arizona, the fists started flying right at puck drop.

After Ryan Lomberg and Jack McBain dropped the gloves immediately following the opening faceoff, Jonah Gadjovich joined the fun and got in a fight with Liam O’Brien.

During warmups, all four players were spotted chatting at center ice.

"Lomby and Gadjy are great at what they do and great for this team,” Tkachuk said of his tough teammates. “What they did at the start there was awesome. It definitely gave us so much energy, positive energy right from the start.”

With the crowd fired up from all the feline fisticuffs, the Panthers quickly turned that momentum into a goal when Tkachuk floated a shot from beyond the right circle past goaltender Karel Vejlmelka, who was screened, to make it 1-0 at 1:53.

After some tidy work on the penalty kill, the Panthers made the Coyotes pay on a power play of their own. With their tic-tac-toe set play working to perfection, Sam Reinhart teed up a pass from Tkachuk and buried a one-timer from the slot to make it 2-0 at 8:44.

His team-leading 35^th goal, Reinhart paces the NHL with 18 power-play goals.

“The power play was good early in the year and just wasn’t scoring, but we were able to find a way to win games without it,” Maurice said. “Now, it’s been pretty darn effective.”

Running wild on the Coyotes, the Panthers tacked on another goal just 17 seconds later when Sam Bennett took a dish from Carter Verhaeghe, got behind Arizona’s defense and beat Vejmelka with a glove-side shot on a breakaway to make it 3-0 at 9:01.

Less than two minutes into the second period, Sergei Bobrovsky stoned Matias Maccelli on a breakaway to keep the three-goal cushion intact. That was one of 12 high-danger saves that the all-star goaltender made against the Coyotes, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

“Bob helped us a lot today,” Panthers forward Anton Lundell said. “It could’ve been a way closer game. He kept us in the game.”

With his stick emitting figurative flames, Tkachuk struck again when he beat Vejmelka with a far-side snipe from the right circle to extend Florida’s lead to 4-0 at 4:14.

Cracking the scoresheet in 12 of his last 13 games, Tkachuk, at the time of this writing, leads the NHL in scoring since Jan. 1 with 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 11 games.

“A lot of offense and there’s just been a lot of guys pitching in,” Tkachuk said.

Playing his best hockey of the season in recent games, Lundell padded the lead for the Panthers when he roofed a feed from Reinhart on a 2-on-1 rush to make it 5-0 at 18:17. Heating up, Lundell has registered two multi-point performances in his last three contests.

Getting two-thirds of a Gordie Howe hat trick, Gadjovich buried a backhander from the doorstep to make it 6-0 at 2:26 of the third period. Spoiling Bobrovsky’s shutout bid, Dylan Guenther scored on the power play to cut Arizona’s deficit to 6-1 at 3:25.

At 16:58, Logan Cooley added one more goal for the Coyotes to make it 6-2.

“It’s nice to get a goal,” Gadjovich said of bookending his game with goal. “It’s been a while. Every day I just show up, try to do my best and contribute in any way that I can.”

Since Dec. 23, Florida has gone 11-2-2 and is tied for first in the NHL with 24 points.

THEY SAID IT

“They’re just so good together. They were a great line together for us in the playoffs.” – Paul Maurice on the combination of Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell

“He’s been amazing. That’s a lot of games and a lot of different players that he’s coach. He’s coached a few different teams and it seems he has success everywhere he goes. Very lucky that we’re able to play for him. I know I’ve said it a lot of times, but he’s just made me a much better player than what I was before.” – Matthew Tkachuk on Paul Maurice’s milestone

“Today it felt like a lot happened. There was some action at the start. I think everyone was pretty fired up after that, both the fans and us players. We came into the game in the right mode.” – Anton Lundell on the early action against Arizona

“It’s a lot of fun on the bench and in here in between periods. The boys are building off each other. Those wins are fun.” – Jonah Gadjovich on the mood in the locker room

CATS STATS

- Gustav Forsling recorded the 100^th assist of his NHL career.

- Aaron Ekblad skated in his 655^th career game with the Panthers, surpassing Stephen Weiss (654) for third place on the franchise’s all-time games played list.

- Sam Reinhart is the fifth player in franchise history to reach the 60-point mark in 50 or fewer games.

- Carter Verhaeghe recorded the first three-assist game of his career.  

- Ten different Panthers recorded at least one point.

- Anton Lundell went 8-for-10 (80%) in the faceoff circle.

- Niko Mikkola led the team with four hits.

- Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 of 26 shots at even strength.

WHAT’S NEXT?

With two games left before the All-Star break, the Panthers will kick off a road back-to-back with a battle against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.