Florida was still missing Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand, so the scoring had to come from somewhere else, and it came from Sam Bennett. He opened the scoring on the power play at the 2-minute mark of the 2nd, finishing a pass from Anton Lundell. That's 2 centers carrying the middle of the ice while the captain sits, and it's the depth the preview said Florida would need. The one box-score search didn't say whether Sandis Vilmanis, listed day to day before the game, played. Florida won without needing to find out.
Florida scored 2 in the 2nd and Columbus got 1 back, so the Panthers took a 1-goal lead into the 3rd. In a building where the Blue Jackets have pulled out a lot of 1-goal games, that was the danger zone. Columbus has needed overtime or a shootout for 5 of its wins this year, and a 2-1 game in the 3rd period is exactly where it has picked up points.
Bennett ended that threat himself. He carried the puck up from his own zone and beat Cam Talbot with a wrister from the right circle, which made it a 2-goal game and left the Blue Jackets little room to come back. Sam Reinhart added a backhand into the empty net to finish it. Florida scored 2 more in the 3rd, Columbus scored none, and the Blue Jackets' close-game habit didn't show up.
For Columbus, the 3 days off didn't turn into offense. The Blue Jackets scored 1 goal on home ice, the same total Florida managed in Boston. They also lost again to a Panthers team that beat them 7-3 in this building back in October. They were missing Isac Lundestrom, but that isn't why they lost. They got a scoreless 1st period at home against a tired team and couldn't do anything with it.
Florida snapped a 2-game skid and ended the road trip with a win, now 10-7-2 and 2-3 in the last 5. The injury list hasn't changed. Barkov and Marchand are still on IR and Jonah Gadjovich is out indefinitely. But on a night when the top line was in street clothes, Bennett and Lundell played like a top line, and that matters for the rest of the season.
The Blue Jackets now have to answer a question their home record had kept quiet. They've been a hard team to play at Nationwide, but Florida has beaten them there twice this season and outscored them 11-4 in those games. Two good games at home were followed by 2 straight losses, the 5-2 loss in Buffalo and now this one.
