SUNRISE — On a night when original Florida TV voice Jeff Rimer was back in the house working one of his final games for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Panthers tried their best at boring him out of retirement.
Although there were some long lulls throughout the game — Matthew Tkachuk scored less than a minute in and Florida’s second goal did not come until there was 2:35 left in the second — the Panthers took care of business and moved closer to the postseason with a 4-0 win.
To make the atmosphere worse, the arena had a fire alarm issue which meant no music during the game or between breaks for a spell.
Fun times in Sunrise.
But, really, fun times for the Panthers.
Boring hockey is their kind of hockey.
Over the past couple of games, Paul Maurice’s bunch are playing exactly the way he wants them to.
With the playoffs just over a week away, so should the fans.
Regardless, Florida toyed with a Columbus team with so many injuries, they looked more like the AHL Cleveland Monsters than the Blue Jackets.
And the Panthers did not appear to lay it on too thick.
With the win, the Panthers won their 50th game for just the second time in franchise history. Both have come in the past two seasons; the 2021-22 Presidents’ Trophy winners won 58 games.
Thursday, Tkachuk scored 47 seconds in and, give credit to Columbus goalie Jet Greaves for holding the fort for the Blue Jackets.
The Panthers went 27 shots between goals, and there was nothing Greaves could have done when Anton Lundell and Evan Rodrigues played catch with the puck — with Rodrigues posting up top d-man Zach Werenski and sweeping the bouncing puck into the net at 17:25 of the second.
Not long after, Sam Reinhart made it 3-0 by scoring his 54th goal of the season by sending a shot from the right circle through traffic and past Greaves.
Sergei Bobrovsky ended with 25 saves for his sixth shutout of the season as he improved to 11-2-1 against the Blue Jackets.
It was also Bobrovsky’s second shutout against his former team, the one he played seven seasons for.
The Panthers have two games left before the playoffs with the Buffalo Sabres coming to town on Saturday evening.
1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida
2. Evan Rodrigues, Florida
3. Jet Greaves, Columbus
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