March 25th: Chicago Blackhawks 0-7 Florida Panthers
As a fan who was at the BB&T Center for this game, this was a game where I wasn’t the most optimistic. The Blackhawks were going through a dominant second half of the season in which they were marching towards the top spot in the West. On the other end, the Cats had lost three of four and were looking to almost lay down and die. ‘Chicagoans galore’ entered looking for a dominant win from Patrick Kane and co.
The first period was pretty lethargic from both sides, the Panthers were trying to beat the Blackhawks at their own game, taking time to shoot on their possessions and pressuring the Blackhawks in the defensive zone.
The goals started in the second from a slap shot from Aleksander Barkov and the floodgates opened from there. With four points from Jonathan Huberdeau and a hat trick from Jonathan Marchessault, with additional goals from Nick Bjugstad and Reilly Smith, Florida ran riot on Corey Crawford and Scott Darling. James Reimer also completed his first ever shutout as a Panther.