Dominant Barkov draws penalty, then scores power-play goal late in OT as Panthers top St. Louis Blues

SUNRISE — Aleksander Barkov scored a power-play goal with 18 seconds left in overtime, giving the Florida Panthers a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Friday night.

Oskar Sundqvist got his third goal of the season for St. Louis, coming midway through the first period. Uvis Balinskis got his first of the season for Florida, with Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk assisting midway through the second.

It stayed that way until the 65th minute, when Barkov ended it with his 10th goal of the season.

The score followed an elite sequence where Barkov took possession of the puck among numerous Blues in the St. Louis zone and then drew a tripping call against Brayden Schenn, creating a 4-on-3 advantage for the final 26 seconds of the extra session.

Joel Hofer stopped 25 shots for the Blues. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots for Florida.

Takeaways

Panthers: In October, Florida distributed Stanley Cup rings to players and coaches. On Thursday, many other team employees got their rings. And Friday, the Panthers began distributing them to 158 season-ticket holders who have been involved for 30 years. The team calls them Legacy members. “Part of our legacy,” Panthers President Matthew Caldwell said.

Up next

The Panthers have a back-to-back with Tampa Bay, starting in Tampa on Sunday and back home on Monday.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL