Jesper Boqvist's two-goal outing sends Panthers past Utah

Field Level Media|published: Thu 9th January, 01:17 2025

Jan 8, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Hockey Club defenseman Michael Kesselring (7) reaches for the puck between Florida Panthers left wing Tomas Nosek (92) and Florida Panthers left wing A.J. Greer (10) during the first period at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Jesper Boqvist scored two goals and Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves in the Florida Panthers' 4-1 win over the Utah Hockey Club on Wednesday in Salt Lake City.

Sam Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen also scored and Matthew Tkachuk had two assists for the Panthers, who have alternated losses and wins for six games.

Bobrovsky improved to 18-9-1 this season.

Boqvist logged the third multigoal game in his six NHL seasons, his second in his last five games. Boqvist also scored twice in Florida's 5-3 win over the New York Rangers on Dec. 30.

Logan Cooley collected Utah's only goal, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 29 of 31 shots.

The Utah Hockey Club are 1-5-2 in their past eight games, including an 0-3-1 mark on home ice. No team in the NHL has fewer home points (14) than Utah, from a home record of 5-8-4.

After a quiet first period for both teams, the Panthers broke out just 65 seconds into the second period. An early high-sticking penalty on Barrett Hayton led to a Florida power play, and Reinhart capped off a nice passing sequence by converting a snap shot from the slot.

Reinhart has the second-most power-play goals (77) of any NHL player since the start of the 2020-21 season. Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl is the runaway leader with 99.

After collecting only four shots in first period, Utah outshot Florida by a 17-13 margin in the second frame but couldn't solve Bobrovsky. The Panthers goalie's outstanding period was highlighted by a huge save on Lawson Crouse at the 13:30 mark.

The Panthers doubled their lead on a goal from Boqvist 1:48 into the third period. His shot from the slot seemed to deflect off Utah defenseman Juuso Valimaki and past Vejmelka.

Cooley's power-play marker finally put the Utah Hockey Club on board 13:41 into the third period. Cooley was alone at the side of the Florida net, and he put a well-placed shot past Bobrovsky.

This was as close as Utah came, as Boqvist and Luostarinen cemented Florida's win with empty-net goals in the last 2:01 of play.

--Field Level Media

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