SUNRISE, Fla. — Spencer Knight recorded 34 saves for his second clean sheet of the season, leading the Florida Panthers to a 3-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday evening, initiating a home-and-home series.
Jesper Boqvist, Anton Lundell, and Gustav Forsling were the goal scorers. Boqvist opened the scoring midway through the second period with his 11th goal of the season, establishing a personal best. Lundell netted the third goal, and Forsling capped it off with an empty-netter.
The Ducks suffered their third consecutive defeat, concluding a six-game losing streak with a record of 1 win, 4 defeats, and 1 overtime loss. John Gibson turned aside 42 shots.
Florida State’s top scorer, Sam Reinhart, was given a game misconduct penalty for kneeing Isaac Lundeström in the first period.
Ducks: They approached this match with the worst average in the NHL at 2.42 goals per game and had been blanked three times on the road.
Panthers: This marked the fifth shutout of Knight’s career. Their previous clean sheet occurred on November 30th, a 6-0 triumph over Carolina. Knight had come off the bench in Thursday’s defeat to Detroit after Sergei Bobrovsky was removed.
Reinhart was flagged with a major penalty and game misconduct for kneeing Lundeström with 4:34 remaining in the first period, necessitating Lundeström’s assistance off the ice to the locker room.
Both squads faced challenges during the power play, finishing 0-2 in their encounters against one another.
The teams are set to clash again on Tuesday evening in Anaheim.