Sean Kuraly scored short-handed and Daniil Tarasov turned back 47 shots as the Columbus Blue Jackets won 5-3 Sunday night, sending the Florida Panthers to their third straight loss.
Johnny Gaudreau contributed a goal and two assists, Kent Johnson scored his first NHL power-play goal, and Yegor Chinakhov and Boone Jenner each added a goal for Columbus, which has won four of its last five at home. Tarasov faced a career-high 50 shots and 94 shot attempts in his first win since Oct. 23.
“You need someone to hold fort for you,” said Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen, who was behind the bench for his 100th NHL game. “You look at all the good teams—their goalies do that for them. And (Tarasov) did it pretty much all night tonight.”
Matthew Tkachuk, Aaron Ekblad and Colin White scored for Florida, and Nick Cousins added two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18.