TEMPE, AZ — Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk scored 42 seconds apart in the third period and the Florida Panthers beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Sergei Bobrovksy made 21 saves and Carter Verhaeghe and Gustav Forsling also scored for the Panthers, who have won five straight and nine of 13.
Reinhart scored on a power play at 7:56 off the third period to break a 1-1 tie, and Tkachuk was credited with the goal at 8:38 when Arizona defenseman Michael Kesselring tipped the puck into the net from in front. Forsling scored an empty-net goal with 2:21 left.
Alex Kerfoot scored a short-handed goal early in the third period for the Coyotes, who had won two in a row and six of seven. The Panthers outshot the Coyotes 38-22.
Reinhart has six goals in his last five games, and his 11 power-play goals to lead the league. He has scored at least 10 power-play goals in each of the last four seasons.
Aleksander Barkov assisted on Reinhart’s goal and set the franchise record with 415 career assists. He has nine assists in his last five games.
Florida played the first game of a four-game road trip while the Coyotes played the first game of a five-game homestand.
Bobrovsky, making his fifth start in six games, has 18 wins and trails only Colorado’s Alexandar Georgiev, who has 20.
Coyotes goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 34 saves while having his career-best four-game winning streak broken.
Verhaeghe opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at 10:46 of the first period. His pass was knocked down as he entered the offensive zone, but the puck rolled free and he picked it up and put it past Vejmelka on the glove side.
The Coyotes appeared to score lass than three minutes into the game when Logan Cooley’s shot from the left point was deflected in, but the goal was disallowed because Coyotes forward Liam O’Brien bumped Bobrovsky and knocked him off balance while joining the play from behind the net.
Coyotes forward Jason Zucker and Forsling received five-minute major penalties for fighting after Zucker slammed Forsling into the side boards with 51 seconds remaining in the scoreless second period. Zucker was penalized five minutes for boarding and Forsling two minutes for instigating.
Kerfoot scored 3:17 into the third period midway through the Panthers’ three-minute power play.
UP NEXT
Panthers: At Vegas on Thursday.
Coyotes: Host the New York Islanders on Thursday.
