Panthers stay hot, get past Blue Jackets 5-2

Aleksander Barkov had a goal and two assists for the Florida Panthers in a 5-2 win against the host Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.

Gustav Forsling had a goal and an assist and Sam Reinhart had four assists for the Panthers, who are 5-1-1 in their past seven games. Florida's Anthony Stolarz made 18 saves.

Yegor Chinakhov and Dmitri Voronkov scored goals and Jet Greaves made 32 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have lost six of their past nine.

Forsling struck at 1:02 of the first period to give Florida a 1-0 lead. Reinhart sent backhand feed to Aleksander Barkov in the right circle. The Panthers captain then quickly dished over to a pinching Forsling uncovered in the left circle for a shot that beat Greaves short side.

Chinakhov tied it 1-1 at 7:06 of the first period. He sent a pass to Kirill Marchenko in the neutral zone, who returned it seconds later and kept his left leg stretched to the blue line to avoid an offside as Chinakov carried it into the zone and skated to the top of the two circles for his sixth of the season.

The Panthers responded 22 seconds later.

Reinhart took a pass from Forsling high in the zone and sent a shot toward the net that was tipped by Carter Verhaeghe in front past the glove of Greaves put Florida in front 2-1 at 7:28.

The visitors came close midway through the frame with a pair of opportunities, first from Aaron Ekblad hitting the outside of the net and then moments later Oliver Ekman-Larsson's shot through traffic from the left circle hit the far post.

The Panthers were awarded a seven-minute power play nearly at 6:49 after Erik Gudbranson went after Nick Cousins in retaliation for a hit from behind into the boards 24 seconds into the frame. Cousins was initially assessed a five-minute major but officials reduced it to a two-minute minor after review.

Gudbranson, who grabbed Cousins and threw some punches as Cousins was down on the ice, was assessed a five-minute major, a two-minute instigator and two 10-minute misconducts.

Florida finally connected with 37 seconds left in the man advantage when Barkov swept in a loose puck on the doorstep to make it 3-1 at 13:13.

With Greaves pulled for the extra attacker, Voronkov cut it to 3-2 at 16:11 from the crease.

Matthew Tkachuk scored into an empty net at 18:05 for a 4-2 lead and Eetu Luostarinen added another at 18:59 for the final goal.