Florida Panthers Christmas Gift: A 6-3 Win Over the Hawks

Following a road victory against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday afternoon, a game in which Roberto Luongo practically stole, the Florida Panthers challenged the Chicago Blackhawks, looking for another victory before Christmas break.

The game featured the battle of the backups: Cam Ward started for CHI, whereas James Reimer started for FLA.

The first period commenced with plenty of action from both sides. MacKenzie Weegar wound up hitting the post, coming awfully close to giving the Panthers the early lead.

Later on, Aleksander Barkov and Evgeni Dadonov both nailed the iron with back-to-back shot attempts.

Eventually, the Chicago Blackhawks would make the Cats pay for failing to capitalize, with defenseman Connor Murphy sniping home his first of the season (1-0 CHI).

However, the Panthers played rather resiliently and continually applied pressure, specifically rookie Jayce Hawryluk.

The fierce Hawryluk tied up the contest, scoring his first career NHL goal, a miraculous effort in which Jayce stripped both the defender and Ward of the puck and finished on a yawning cage (1-1).

Barkov would soon draw yet another penalty and that’s how the first period of play would conclude.

The second period commenced with the Blackhawks successfully killing off the Panther power-play opportunity, a top 3 PP unit in the entire NHL.

Soon after, Jayce Hawryluk would provide the Cats with their first lead of the hockey match, scoring a tremendous goal on a breakaway chance.

The spectacular feed from Michael Matheson sprung the speedy Hawryluk on a breakaway, and Jayce would seamlessly finish with a wicked wrister past Ward (2-1 FLA).

But, the Florida lead would only last temporarily, with Alex DeBrincat evening up the score on a PP opportunity for Chicago (2-2).

James Reimer was fairly solid throughout the course of the contest, and even denied perennial all-star Patrick Kane on two consecutive scoring chances all alone in front.

The Cats would receive their third power-play opportunity of the night, with the Hawks taking an undisciplined cross-checking penalty.

The third ranked power-play unit would finally capitalize on the man advantage, with sniper Mike Hoffman rifling a missile past Cam Ward, regaining the one-goal lead for the Cats (3-2 FLA).

Nearly moments later, Jared McCann would extend the lead for the Florida Panthers, potting home a top-shelf goal on an egregious rebound relinquished by Cam Ward (4-2 FLA).

The second period of play concluded with the Cats carrying a decisive two-goal lead over the deflated Hawks into the locker room.

The third period began with the Cats tacking on their fifth goal of the contest, courtesy of Denis Malgin (5-2 FLA).

Malgin received a magnificent cross-ice feed from Jared McCann, and potted home the puck, giving the Cats a comfortable three-goal cushion in Chicago.