National Hockey League
Columbus 7, Florida 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, November 15, 2018
Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Referees: Justin St. Pierre, Ian Walsh
Linesmen: Derek Amell, Trent Knorr
Attendance: 14872

Markus Hannikainen scored the go-ahead goal with 15:59 left in the third period as the host and flu-ridden Columbus Blue Jackets rallied to beat the Florida Panthers 7-3 on Thursday night.

Columbus also got goals from Cam Atkinson, Brandon Dubinsky, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Anthony Duclair, Josh Anderson and an empty-netter by Boone Jenner. Atkinson produced his second short-handed goal of the season.

The Blue Jackets, who trailed 2-0 after the first period, won despite being hit hard by the flu as three key players missed the game: starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, leading scorer Artemi Panarin and center Riley Nash, who sat out for the first time this season.

Joonas Korpisalo replaced Bobrovsky and made 40 saves to improve to 5-0-2 this season.

Panthers winger Mike Hoffman had one assist to extend his points streak to 14 games, breaking Pavel Bure's franchise record. It's also the longest streak in the NHL this season.

Florida, which entered the game with the NHL's longest active win streak at five games, got goals from Nick Bjugstad, Aaron Ekblad and Keith Yandle. Michael Matheson added two assists.

Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo, who made 30 saves, allowed six goals. He had allowed just six goals this season in his five previous appearances, and he had four of the wins during the now-halted streak.

The Panthers needed just 1:44 to open the scoring as Bjugstad deflected in a shot by Matheson.

After Jenner was called for hooking Florida's Aleksander Barkov, the Panthers cashed in as Hoffman dished to Ekblad for a power-play goal and a 2-0 lead.

Dubinsky was then called for tripping Ekblad, but that became a turning point for Columbus. With just 28 seconds expired in the second period, Atkinson scored short-handed off a pass from Alexander Wennberg. The play was set up when Yandle turned over the puck.

Columbus tied the score three minutes later when Zach Werenski fired in a bouncing puck that was chopped in by Dubinsky.

The Jackets took a 3-2 lead with 6:16 expired in the second. Luongo stopped a Duclair breakaway, but Dubois got to the rebound quickly and scored into a vacated net.

Yandle, making up for his turnover, tied the score 3-3 at 13:12 of the second period. On a power play, his shot from the blue line somehow got through traffic.

Hannikainen scored the go-ahead goal, and Columbus poured it on from there with tallies by Duclair, Anderson and Jenner.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Florida   Columbus
Mike Matheson 2 Points Cam Atkinson 2
Nick Bjugstad 1 Goals Cam Atkinson 1
Mike Matheson 2 Assists Alexander Wennberg 2
Aaron Ekblad 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals Cam Atkinson 1
Roberto Luongo .833 Save Percentage Joonas Korpisalo .930
Roberto Luongo 30 Saves Joonas Korpisalo 40
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Florida 43 3 2-4 1-1 2 40
Columbus 37 7 0-1 2-4 8 33
Upcoming Games
  • Columbus will play their next game on the road against Carolina. The Blue Jackets have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .778 after a loss.
  • Florida will play their next game on the road against NY Rangers. The Panthers have a W/L % of .571 after a win and .333 after a loss.