Aleksander Barkov hits two milestones as Florida Panthers beat Vegas Golden Knights

Even one of the top teams in the NHL needs a wake-up call every now and then.

And, in a way, the Florida Panthers are thankful they got one Sunday against the Seattle Kraken — a 5-3 loss to the NHL’s latest expansion team.

“We learned a lot that game, how we just came to the game not ready to play mentally,” captain Aleksander Barkov said. “Obviously, we know we’re a great team so we can win games by not playing our best, but the effort has to be there.”

The effort certainly has been there since.

And it was there again on Thursday, with Barkov helping lead the charge.

Barkov hit two career milestones with his first-period shorthanded goal — simultaneously racking up career goal No. 200 and career point No. 500 — to jumpstart Florida’s offense and complement its defense in a 4-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights at FLA Live Arena to start a short two-game homestand.

The Panthers are now 30-9-5, becoming just the second team to reach 30 wins on the season. Their 65 points lead the NHL. Vegas falls to 25-16-3.

But the final score isn’t necessarily indicative of how close the game really was.

Florida had just a one-goal lead heading into the final minute before Mason Marchment and Sam Bennett scored consecutive empty-net goals in a span of 25 seconds.

Up to that point, it was a defensive grind — one that had playoff-type vibes — in which the Panthers had to preserve the lead for 38 minutes.

And they did. Florida held Vegas to just 14 shots on goal in the final two periods, including only five in the third.

Much different than how the Panthers have won the majority of their games, wins that have tended to come via blowouts or late heroics.

“They found a way to grind out a game,” Florida interim coach Andrew Brunette said. “We’ve had so much success here at home where we’re scoring a lot of goals and things were coming easy and tonight was a game that it wasn’t gonna come easy. We could have easily played the wrong way, did the wrong things, cheated to try to score and we would have lost 5-1. We recognized that and we did the right things and managed the game. To me, that’s a sign of a great team on its way. A great team growing. We were not there yet, but it was a step in the right direction for us.”

Bennett scored the go-ahead goal less than two minutes into the second period when he carried the puck the length of the ice, shook off a pair of Golden Knights skaters and fired a wrist shot from the left circle past Vegas goaltender Robin Lehner.

Bennett now has a career-high and team-leading 20 goals this season.

But back to Barkov for a minute.

His double milestone-setting goal came on the first of three Panthers penalty kills after Carter Verhaeghe was called for holding.

Barkov forced a takeaway in the neutral zone, flicked the puck to Lundell on the boards before receiving the puck back on a cross-ice feed and sending a slap shot past Lehner. It was Barkov’s fourth shorthanded goal of the season, tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Gustav Nyquist for the most in the NHL this season.

“I felt like I could get to the puck with the stick and Lundy was there for me,” Barkov said. “I gave him the pass and just got ready for a shot. He made a great, great play and all I had to do was shoot it at the net. Happily, it went in.”

He’s the first player in Panthers history to score 200 goals with the franchise and just the second player in franchise history to score at least 500 points. Teammate and All-Star Jonathan Huberdeau, who is up to 557 career points (184 goals, 373 assists) was the first to hit the 500-point mark, doing so earlier this season in a 5-1 win over the New York Islanders on Oct. 16.

Barkov added an assist on Bennett’s empty net goal for career point No. 501.

“Those are the milestones you’re going to think about at the end of your career,” Barkov said. “I’m really happy to get it out of the way.”

Goaltender Spencer Knight made 24 saves, including stopping the final 20 shots that came his way on Thursday. The lone goal he gave up was a snap shot from Vegas defenseman Zach Whitecloud 7:51 into the game.

It’s the second consecutive game in which Knight has given up just one goal, following up his 27-save effort in Florida’s shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 21.

Injury updates

The Panthers placed forward Maxim Mamin on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury prior to the game. Mamin was on the ice at the team’s morning skate earlier in the game.

Owen Tippett played on top line at right wing with Verhaeghe at left wing and Barkov at center in Mamin’s absence; Frank Vatrano slotted back into the lineup on the fourth line. Winger Patric Hornqvist remains on IR.

Placing Mamin on IR opened up a roster spot for defenseman Gustav Forsling, who returned to the lineup and played his 200th career NHL game Thursday after missing the last four games while in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols.

Up next

The Panthers finish their brief two-game homestand Saturday against the San Jose Sharks. Puck drop at FLA Live Arena is scheduled for 6 p.m. Florida then plays its next two games on the road — Monday at the Blue Jackets, Tuesday at the New York Rangers — before having a two-week break.