The Florida Panthers found the late push they had been missing on their road trip Sunday, with Lars Eller stepping into open ice during a Chicago change and snapping home the deciding goal with 2:23 left for a 3-2 win at United Center.
Eller’s wrist shot from the right circle beat Chicago goaltender Spencer Knight and gave Florida its first victory of a four-game trip after consecutive losses by a combined 9-1 score. The goal was Eller’s first in 12 games this season, and it arrived on a read he made before the Blackhawks could finish getting fresh players over the boards.
“I saw they were changing and thought there might be something there,” Eller said. “The lane opened up more than I expected. I was not likely to get a cleaner chance, so I let it go.”
Sandis Vilmanis and Matthew Tkachuk also scored for the Panthers, who improved to 6-4-2. Akira Schmid turned aside 19 shots and held firm after Chicago had erased Florida’s one-goal lead in the second period.
Schmid said his focus was on staying locked in for the complete night after recent games had gotten away from Florida late. “I tried to be dialed in for all 60 minutes,” he said. “There had been stretches in the last couple games where a late one went in.”
Florida’s forecheck creates a better start
Chicago struck first at 2:34 of the opening period. Andrew Mangiapane worked behind the Florida net, quickly slipped a backhand pass to Ryan Greene, and Greene finished on his forehand for his first goal in 11 games.
The Panthers answered at 6:49 when Vilmanis redirected Sam Reinhart’s shot past Knight. It was Vilmanis’ first goal of the season, also coming in his 11th game.
Florida took control of much of the first, holding a 15-6 edge in shots, and went ahead at 14:21. Just five seconds after a power play began, Seth Jones fired from the high slot and the puck changed direction off Matthew Tkachuk before crossing the line. The goal ended Tkachuk’s six-game drought.
Paul Maurice liked the pace and territorial work from his club, particularly the willingness to get pucks through the middle of the ice and toward the net. He called it Florida’s best offensive start in some time, saying the Panthers were back on the forecheck and generated more slot-area chances than they had for much of the season.
Chicago got even at 11:15 of the second. Patrick Kane sent the puck from near the goal line to Roman Kantserov in the right circle, where Kantserov buried a wrist shot for the 2-2 score.
But the Blackhawks could not cash in on seven power-play opportunities, finishing 0-for-7. They have now dropped three in a row and scored only three goals during that stretch, falling to 3-8-0 despite Knight’s 30-save performance.
Connor Bedard, Chicago’s captain, said the frustration around a 3-8 start is understandable, but it has to become useful energy. “If nobody is frustrated, that is worse,” Bedard said. “We have to bring that into the next game, dig out of it and play with an edge.”
Coach Jeff Blashill said the struggling power play reflects the wider scoring problem. He felt Chicago had created opportunities but said the staff will review whether the process was strong enough before deciding what adjustments are needed.
Sunday also brought several milestones and notable connections. Carter Verhaeghe appeared in his 500th NHL game for Florida. Brady Tkachuk assisted on brother Matthew’s power-play goal, their eighth shared scoring play of the season, more than any other Panthers teammate combination. Kane’s assist was the 898th of his NHL career, leaving him two away from becoming the 21st player in League history to reach 900 and the first American-born skater to do it.
