Marchment collects three points as Cats take two-point lead on Bolts
Mason Marchment scored two goals and added an assist in the opening twenty minutes as the Florida Panthers finished off a five-game road trip with a 5-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre.
Marchment provided two of Florida’s three first period goals, trading tallies with Winnipeg’s Paul Stastny and Kyle Connor.
His first marker came 2:09 into the tilt when he deflected a centering pass from Anton Lundell past Connor Hellebuyck.
Mason Marchment with the ?????? ??? and the Panthers take a 1-0 lead early in Winnipeg!@FlaPanthers | #TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/VZMPecBCZr
— Bally Sports Florida: Panthers (@BallyPanthers) January 26, 2022
Marchment struck again at the 12:06 mark to give the Panthers the lead back, finding wide open ice in the slot to convert a centering feed from Sam Reinhart. The second assist on Marchment’s fourth went to defenseman Lucas Carlsson.
“Wanna see me score against the Jets? Wanna see me do it again?”
— Mason Marchment, probably
Panthers take a 2-1 lead in the 1st!@FlaPanthers | #TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/v7AjMoGgxt
— Bally Sports Florida: Panthers (@BallyPanthers) January 26, 2022
Marchment would combine with Reinhart to set up Lundell’s tenth of the season to give the Cats the lead for a third time with 2;27 left in the opening frame. The rookie was able to redirect Marchment’s turnaround shot by Hellebuyck after a forechecking Reinhart came up with a takeaway behind the net.
Watch the Cats attack ?
Anton Lundell deflects the shot from Mason Marchment, and the Panthers have a 3-2 lead!@FlaPanthers | #TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/nbMRHXmTQ9
— Bally Sports Florida: Panthers (@BallyPanthers) January 26, 2022
After Pierre-Luc Dubois evened it up yet again with a power-play goal 3:30 into the second, Carter Verhaeghe came up with the eventual game-winner at 9:42. After Hellebuyck denied Maxim Mamin from in tight after a Aleksander Barkov center, the puck went back to Aaron Ekblad in the high slot and the Winnipeg keeper saved that one as well, but he could not prevent Verhaeghe from hacking in the rebound.
Carter Verhaeghe with the score off the rebound! 4-3 Panthers!!
????? ??? ???? → https://t.co/JSbKidtdFT@FlaPanthers | #TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/y1Tg6vP6mM
— Bally Sports Florida: Panthers (@BallyPanthers) January 26, 2022
Sergei Bobrovsky would stop all 13 Winnipeg shots in the third and Sam Bennett would complete the scoring to give the Panthers some breathing when he capped off a Florida rush by knocking in the rebound of Anthony Duclair’s shot. Ekblad got the secondary helper for his second point of the night with 7:50 left in regulation.
“SAM BENNETT ON THE REBOUND” ?
Panthers extend their lead to 5-3!!!@FlaPanthers | #TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/ZINYidG7A1
— Bally Sports Florida: Panthers (@BallyPanthers) January 26, 2022
After stumbling in Seattle, the Panthers were able, thanks in large part to the reconstituted Lundell, Marchement, Reinhart line, which combined for 7 points and 10 shots, to find enough juice to pull away from Jets to end the trip on high note and with a winning 3-2 record. The Cats have now played the same amount of games as the Tampa Bay Lightning (43) and lead the Bolts by two points with an NHL-high 63. Florida will return to Sunrise and host the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday and the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Pitch & Yaw
- Mason Marchment notched the first multigoal game of his NHL career. He became the 11th Panther player to produce at least three points in a game this season, the second-most of any NHL team.
- Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 32 saves to collect his 21st win of the campaign while Connor Hellebuyck stopped 27 shots for the Jets, who lost for the fifth time in a row.
- Defensemen Lucas Carlsson and Chase Priskie each finished the game with plus-four ratings. Carlsson logged 12:32 TOI while Priskie played 9:33.
- Winnipeg rookie Cole Perfetti collected the first two NHL assists for his first multipoint game in the league. Also registering assists for the Jets were Brendan Dillon, Adam Lowry, Dylan Samberg and Nate Schmidt.
- Radko Gudas and Maxim Mamin each were credited with a game-high four hits.
- Prepare for landing at Arctic Ice Hockey for more Florida’s 29th win of the season.
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