Jake Neighbors’ two-goal play helps Blues to 6-2 win over Panthers – The Hockey Writers NHL News Latest news, analysis and more

For the first time this season, the St. Louis Blues and Florida Panthers faced off as part of a two-game season series. The Blues defeated the Panthers 6-2. The Panthers looked to extend their win streak to five games, while the Blues tried to aim for a win after a 2-1 overtime loss to the New York Rangers in their last game. Let’s take a look at the summary of this game.

First period

The match started with a half-period rest until the Blues answered first after almost 10 minutes. Blues’ forward Otto Stenberg (secondary assist) played the puck after Brayden Schenn won the faceoff and passed the puck to Cam Fowler (primary assist), who fired it from the blue line, causing Blues’ Jake Neighbors to tap the puck into the net for the 1-0 lead.

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After the goal, the score remained the same and the last shots of the period were 7-7.

Second Period

The second period was much more eventful, as Blues forward Jonatan Berggren scored on a rebound created by Pavel Buchnevich on the power play with 1:55 minutes left in the period, making the game 2–0 Blues. Robert Thomas was credited with the secondary assist on the play.

Then, deep in the second, at the 7:35 mark, Panthers forward AJ Greer reflected the puck into the net after a tight assisted shot from Jesper Boqvist, who also assisted defenseman Seth Jones to make it 2-1.

The Panthers didn’t stop there as they tied the score at 2-2 thanks to a one-time power play goal from Sam Reinhart, assisted by Brad Marchand (primary assist) and Sam Bennett (secondary assist).

The Blues took the lead on a desperation hit from Justin Faulk with one second left in the period, making it 3-2. Berggren was the only player to assist on the play. The final shots for the second period were 14-8 for the Panthers.

Third Period

The final period started goalless in the first ten minutes. It wasn’t until 12:02 into the third that Neighbors received a pass from Stenberg and fired a shot past Panthers goalie Daniil Tarasov to make it 4-2. Schenn got the secondary assist.

Just 53 seconds later, Thomas scored another goal for the Blues, assisted by Buchnevich (primary assist) and Berggren (secondary assist), and the Blues’ lead increased to 5–2.

Within the final two minutes, the Panthers tried to get the extra man with the empty net on the power play, but Thomas capped the scoring with a shorthanded goal to make the final score 6-2. The last shots before the match were 31-29 Blues.

Before the short Christmas break, the Blues will look to build on another win when they take on the Nashville Predators on Monday (December 22). The Panthers will look to get back to winning ways against the Carolina Panthers on Tuesday (December 23). The two teams will face off on January 29 for the second game of the season series.