SUNRISE, Fla. – Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves to tie for the NHL lead with six shutouts, Sam Reinhart scored his 54th goal and the Florida Panthers defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 on Thursday night.
Bobrovsky, who has 44 career shutouts, is tied with Arizona’s Connor Ingram and Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry for the most this season.
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Matthew Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for the Panthers, who moved within a point of the idle Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division. Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson had two assists after missing Tuesday’s game against the Ottawa Senators to rest.
Florida has one fewer game on its schedule than Boston while holding a 40-35 lead in regulation wins, the top tiebreaker.
Jet Greaves stopped 42 shots for the Blue Jackets, who are mathematically locked into the fourth-best odds in the upcoming NHL draft lottery.
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The Panthers honored longtime Columbus play-by-play announcer Jeff Rimer — the franchise’s original TV voice when it was founded in 1993 — with a video tribute during his final game in South Florida before his pending retirement.
Rimer was a part of Florida’s broadcast for 11 years (1993-2004) before spending the last 20 years of his 47-year broadcasting career in the Blue Jackets’ booth.
UP NEXT
Blue Jackets: Visit Nashville on Saturday night.
Panthers: Host Buffalo on Saturday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL