Carter Verhaeghe’s first-period scoring burst and Spencer Knight’s stellar performance in goal ended the NHL’s longest active win streak.
Verhaeghe scored twice within 26 seconds in the first period, Matthew Tkachuk added his 12th goal with an assist, and the Florida Panthers halted Seattle’s seven-game win streak with a 5-1 win over the Kraken on Saturday night.
Seattle struggled against Knight, with Jared McCann’s goal early in the second period being their only breakthrough. Knight made 36 saves, helping the Panthers win back-to-back games for the first time in nearly a month.
“Just solid, square to the puck. He had an answer for anything that got away from him,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said of Knight. “One or two really good cross-seam saves that are hard to make. Gave us a nice bit of confidence and calm back there.”
Florida needed Knight at his best due to injuries. The Panthers played most of the game with just 10 forwards after Patric Hornqvist was helped off the ice in the first period. Defenseman Radko Gudas played only two shifts, totaling 2:08 of ice time.
Maurice didn’t know the extent of the injuries but indicated that both players would need to see physicians.
“It’s a tough building to win in, and it’s a very good hockey team. A lot of guys stepped up in different ways tonight for a win, and that’s what you need on the road,” Florida defenseman Marc Staal said.
Verhaeghe got Florida off to a perfect start, scoring at 13:00 of the first period after Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer slid too far across his net and collided with Staal, leaving the goal open. Seattle challenged for goaltender interference, but the goal was upheld, and Florida went on the power play.
Florida capitalized, and Verhaeghe scored his second goal shortly after. Verhaeghe now has 14 goals in 25 games, with five multi-goal games this season.
“It gives us life on the bench anytime you get the first goal in a game,” Verhaeghe said. “It gives us a huge advantage, and we took advantage tonight.”
Tkachuk assisted on both of Verhaeghe’s goals and added his own on a power play in the second period, tipping Aaron Ekblad’s shot from the point. Tkachuk’s goal was one of only two shots Florida had in the second period as Seattle consistently pressured Knight with shots.
Aleksi Heponiemi and Gustav Forsling scored in the third period, and Sam Bennett had three assists for Florida. Three of the Panthers’ five goals came on the power play.
Grubauer made 23 saves for Seattle.
Seattle failed to score at least two goals for the first time since being shut out by Minnesota on Nov. 11.
“There weren’t many parts of our game that were very good tonight. That’s going to be a tough way to win a hockey game,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said.
McCann’s goal at 1:53 was his 11th of the season and came on a rebound after Knight stopped Jordan Eberle’s shot from his knees. But Knight was otherwise excellent. His most important save came in the closing seconds of the first period, denying Seattle rookie Matty Beniers with his skate.
“This was not one or two people that weren’t good enough. We were all below the bar tonight,” Hakstol said.
Game Notes
Florida dressed only 11 forwards due to Aleksander Barkov missing his fifth straight game due to illness and Anton Lundell out with an upper-body injury. Lundell is expected to be available for Florida’s game on Tuesday in Winnipeg. Seattle F Morgan Geekie (upper body) missed his third straight game.
UP NEXT
Panthers: Conclude their road trip at Winnipeg on Tuesday night.
Kraken: Host Montreal on Tuesday night.
