David Dwork reports that Sam Reinhart's empty-net goal in Columbus tonight was his 199th with the Panthers, second all-time in franchise history.
It sealed a 4-1 Florida win over the Blue Jackets. Sam Bennett scored the other two goals, so Reinhart's empty-netter finished what the Panthers are calling "a Sam hat trick."
The team's own account marked the moment, posting "A historic finish from Reino."
Reinhart now sits one goal short of 200 as a Panther, and the Panthers needed this one. They came in on a two-game skid, with Sunday's 1-4 loss in Boston the last result, and they leave Columbus having closed the road trip with a win.
Dwork had the goal as it happened, with Florida up 4-1 late.
The franchise standing came with it. Dwork's follow-up put the 199th goal at second all-time in Panthers history, and the club's "x 199" post leaned on the number too.
The desk has no word on who sits first, so that name stays out of this story. What we do know is that Reinhart came into tonight with 9 goals and 17 points in 18 games, and he was already chasing a milestone.
On Sunday, we looked at Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk chasing 700. Reinhart sat at 697 career points before tonight, and his points from this game aren't in the books yet.
Markstrom was big in goal, which is how a 4-1 score happens against a team that had Florida's number on the scoresheet only once all night. The Panthers are now 10-1 against Columbus by the desk's count, and that run is lopsided.
When does Sam Reinhart get to 200?
The next chance comes Thursday, when the Panthers host Detroit. One goal is all it takes, and Reinhart has scored in streaks already this season, as Paul Maurice noted when he explained Reinhart's hot streak.
Six of his nine goals before tonight came on the power play. Florida's power play is where the 200th most likely arrives, and I'd bet on Thursday.
There was also some late noise. Brady Tkachuk drew a 10-minute game misconduct in the final minute after Erik Gudbranson stepped to him, and the former Panthers first-rounder will be a talking point in Columbus for a while. Whether the league has anything to say about it isn't known yet.
Quick hits
MINNESOTA WILDKirill Kaprizov ended the Wild's overtime drought, scoring 18 seconds into the extra frame to beat Montreal 2-1. That's about as fast as an overtime curse can die.
MONTREAL CANADIENSCole Caufield's slashing penalty with 53 seconds left in regulation came back to hurt in the 2-1 overtime loss to the Wild. Canadiens fans aren't happy.
COLORADO AVALANCHEGabriel Landeskog scored twice as the Avalanche beat Toronto 6-3. A big shift from him flipped the game in the Leafs' own building.
OTTAWA SENATORSNick Cousins was down on the ice after a violent collision with Jakob Chychrun late in the third period against the Capitals. There's no word yet on his condition.
NASHVILLE PREDATORSJuuse Saros starts in Los Angeles tonight, with Anton Forsberg in the other crease. The Predators stick with their number one against the Kings.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
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