SUNRISE, Fla. _ On the night it honored its inaugural 1993-94 team, the Panthers new class of talented youngsters showed why there's plenty of optimism and excitement emanating from Sunrise.
Florida's first line of Aleksander Barkov, Evgenii Dadonov and Nick Bjustad provided plenty of fireworks _ all scoring goals _ to lead the team's electric offense. But while the Cats were able to put four on the scoreboard, the defense couldn't match pace as the Columbus Blue Jackets nipped the Panthers, 5-4, in the home opener. Cam Atkinson scored the game-winner with 2:46 remaining in the game.
Florida fell to 0-1-1 after suffering a shootout loss against the Lightning in Saturday's season opener.
With starting goalie Roberto Luongo out on the disabled list, James Reimer got the start in net for the Panthers, but wasn't able to deliver a win. The 30-year-old had 27 saves on 32 shots against for a .844 save percentage.
The Panthers quickly fell behind 2-0 after the Blue Jackets capitalized on a pair of first-period power-play opportunities. Columbus struck first on a 5-on-3 advantage as Zach Werenski scored off assists from Artemi Panarin and Atkinson with 6:31 remaining. Immediately after a Panthers penalty kill four minutes later, Panarin intercepted a pass and scored to push the lead to 2-0.
In what would be a recurring theme, Florida would end the period strong. With 10 seconds remaining, Barkov streaked with the puck down the left wing, firing it over at the last second to Dadonov for the finish to cut the lead in half.
Dadonov would return the favor to his linemate later in the second period, delivering a pass to Barkov for the captain's first goal of the season, evening the game 2-2 with just over 13 minutes remaining. Two minutes later, one of the Panthers' new offseason additions joined the fray. Troy Brouwer, who signed a one-year contract with Florida, scored off an assist from Mark Pysyk to give the Panthers their first lead of the game.
While Columbus would even the game later in the second, the Panthers ended the period strong once again. With eight seconds remaining, Bjustad scored off a feed from Keith Yandle to push the Cats back on top.
