Tobias Bjornfot’s surprise game propels Panthers past Blackhawks

Tobias Bjornfot scored twice to help the visiting Florida Panthers earn a 5-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.

It marked the second and third NHL goals for the 24-year-old Bjornfot, coming close to five years after his first career tally back on May 1, 2021, when he was with the Los Angeles Kings.

Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist, and Mackie Samoskevich and Sam Reinhart also scored for the Panthers, who have won three in a row. Daniil Tarasov made 19 saves.

Tyler Bertuzzi scored and Spencer Knight made 20 saves for the Blackhawks, who had their three-game point streak snapped (2-0-1).

Bjornfot gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 15:33 of the second period. After Cole Schwindt won the faceoff, Bjornfot collected the loose puck high along the left wall and carried it down low. He curled behind the net for a wraparound shot that went off the leg of Chicago defenseman Matt Grzelcyk in the crease and beat Knight through the five-hole.

Bertuzzi tied it 1-1 with 30 seconds remaining in the middle frame. Wyatt Kaiser caught a clearing attempt by Eetu Luostarinen at the left point to keep the Blackhawks in the zone and took it to the top of the near circle before sending a cross-ice seam pass to Ilya Mikheyev. Tarasov stopped Mikheyev's shot, but Bertuzzi was in front to put the rebound past the netminder.

Samoskevich made it 2-1 at 5:20 of the third period. He gathered a dump-in along the right wall, took it to the faceoff dot and fired a wrist shot that squeaked under Knight's right arm and trickled just over the goal line.

Verhaeghe pushed it to 3-1 at 7:24. He received a feed from Evan Rodrigues at the left hash mark and quickly beat Knight with a wrist shot to the glove side.

Reinhart scored an empty-net goal at 18:11 to make it 4-1, and Bjornfot notched his second tally from low in the left circle at 19:38 for the 5-1 final.