The Chicago Blackhawks made a late push, but another largely uninspired performance ended in a 5-3 road loss to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game. After a neutral-zone turnover led to a mini-rush, Sam Reinhart found Sandis Vilmanis in front with a centering pass, and Vilmanis tapped the puck home.
Carter Verhaeghe doubled the Panthers’ lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 12:29 of the first period. From along the wall, Matthew Tkachuk sent the puck to his brother Brady in front of the net.