Vilmanis Leads a Panthers Barrage Past Chicago
Reinhart and Verhaeghe share in the scoring as the Blackhawks stay winless away from home.
Florida had the puck pointed at Chicago's net most of the night, and the 5-3 final was the natural result. The Panthers outshot the Blackhawks 30-21 and outattempted them 60-46, and their chances carried far more danger. By expected goals, a measure of how many goals a team's chances were worth, Florida came in at 3.46 to Chicago's 1.72, roughly double.
Sandis Vilmanis did the most with the least: two goals and two assists on just two shots in under 14 minutes. He played alongside Sam Reinhart (one goal, two assists, a team-high six shots) and Carter Verhaeghe (a goal and an assist), and that trio did the heavy lifting.
Spencer Knight faced the busier net, stopping 25 of 29, including 9 of 12 high-danger looks. Frank Nazar scored twice for Chicago and Connor Bedard set up two, but Lars Eller clanged a crossbar on a quality chance, a sign Florida could have scored even more. Chicago falls to 0-5-1 on the road.
