Jake Neighbours and Robert Thomas each scored twice as the St. Louis Blues pulled away for a 6-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, snapping Florida’s four-game winning streak.
Jonatan Berggren and Justin Faulk also found the net for St. Louis, while Joel Hofer turned aside 27 shots to steady the Blues after Florida briefly rallied. Pavel Buchnevich and Berggren each chipped in two assists in the win.
The Blues struck first midway through the opening period when Neighbours opened the scoring, and they carried that momentum into the second. Berggren made it 2-0 just 1:55 into the middle frame, his shot crossing the goal line in Daniil Tarasov’s glove.
Florida answered back to even the score. A.J. Greer cut into the deficit, and Sam Reinhart tied it later in the period as the Panthers erased the early hole. But St. Louis regained control in dramatic fashion before the second intermission, when Faulk sent a shot past Tarasov with just 0.8 seconds remaining to give the Blues a 3-2 lead heading into the third.
Neighbours restored a two-goal cushion with his second of the night at the 5:58 mark of the third period. Thomas followed with a goal at 7:07 remaining and then capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 3:32 left to seal the win.
Tarasov finished with 25 saves for Florida. Reinhart’s goal extended his strong stretch, but the Panthers were unable to keep pace down the stretch as St. Louis poured it on late.
Florida remained without Matthew Tkachuk, the St. Louis native who has been skating in recent weeks but has yet to make his season debut following offseason surgery to repair an adductor muscle and a sports hernia. The Panthers are hopeful Tkachuk will be able to return in time for the Winter Classic at loanDepot Park against the New York Rangers on Jan. 2.
Up next, the Blues visit Tampa Bay on Monday, while the Panthers head to Carolina to face the Hurricanes on Tuesday.
