COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Blue Jackets outshot the Florida Panthers 37-28 and piled up a 73-48 edge in shot attempts on Tuesday, Nov. 10, but managed only one goal in a 4-1 loss at Nationwide Arena, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s game recap.
Sam Bennett scored two goals to lead Florida (10-7-2), which also got two assists each from Aaron Ekblad and Anton Lundell and 36 saves from goaltender Jacob Markstrom, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Lars Eller and Sam Reinhart scored the Panthers’ other two goals.
Ivan Provorov scored the lone goal for Columbus (7-9-0), and goaltender Cam Talbot made 24 saves in front of an announced crowd of 14,134, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The loss was the Blue Jackets’ second straight and their second home loss to Florida in a month, after a 7-3 defeat on Oct. 13.
Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness credited Markstrom while faulting his team’s finishing, he told The Columbus Dispatch. Bowness noted the Jackets generated more than 70 shot attempts but too often missed the net entirely, costing them both the shot and any rebound chance, and said his players appeared to be squeezing their sticks at key moments.
The turning point came late in the third period, The Columbus Dispatch reported. With Adam Fantilli and Florida’s Brady Tkachuk sent off for roughing to create a 4-on-4, Bennett carried the puck past multiple defenders and scored over Talbot’s glove from the left circle with 5:31 left, stretching the lead to 3-1 and deflating the Columbus comeback bid.
Florida’s first Bennett goal, two minutes into the second period to cap a power play, was built by Lundell, who carried the puck from inside his own blue line through the Columbus defense before feeding Bennett across the ice, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Talbot kept the game close in the second with a glove save on Carter Verhaeghe from the low slot when three Blue Jackets collided behind their own net.
Defenseman Erik Gudbranson returned to the Columbus lineup after three games as a healthy scratch, skating on the third pairing, while forward Conor Garland missed his first game with an undisclosed upper-body injury, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
The Blue Jackets stay home for their next game, hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, Nov. 12, at Nationwide Arena, with puck drop at 7 p.m. ET, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Photo: Eric, CC BY-SA