Matthew Tkachuk's late third-period goal lifts Panthers to 3-2 win over Blues

Matthew DeFranks, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Feb 6, 2025

Published in Hockey

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ST. LOUIS — The Blues were seconds away from forcing overtime against the defending Stanley Cup champions for a second time this season.

Instead, St. Louis left Thursday night without a point in hand.

St. Louis native Matthew Tkachuk scored the game-winning goal for Florida with 11.8 seconds remaining in the third period, boosting the Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Blues at Enterprise Center. Tkachuk tipped a Sam Reinhart shot from the slot late in the third period beat Joel Hofer to hand the Blues a regulation loss.

It was his second goal of the game. The goal was originally awarded to Reinhart, but later changed to Tkachuk.

Zack Bolduc and Oskar Sundqvist scored for the Blues, as Hofer made 31 saves. Mackie Samoskevich also scored for the Panthers.

The Blues have one more game left — at home vs. Chicago on Saturday night — before the two-week 4 Nations break.

Grab a lead … and then hang on

The Blues jumped out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal from Bolduc at 3:31 of the first period, as Bolduc hopped on a rebound in the slot of Ryan Suter’s point shot. It was Bolduc’s sixth goal of the season and first since Dec. 27.

The period was a strong one for Bolduc, as the 21-year-old not only scored a goal, but also disrupted a play at his own blue line that led to a chance for Oskar Sundqvist on the rush. Later on, he picked off Spencer Knight’s attempted pass and put a shot on goal.

Bolduc’s shot was the third of the game for the Blues, following Robert Thomas’ prime chance in front and Suter’s point shot. St. Louis had the first three shots of the game, but Florida responded with the next 10, including Samoskevich’s deflection of a Sam Bennett shot at 7:09 that tied the game at 1.

Tkachuk extended his goal streak to five games by tipping a shot past Hofer on the power play with 3:06 remaining in the first period to give Florida a 2-1 lead. It was the 10th power-play goal allowed by the Blues in the last nine games.

The Panthers finished the period with a 16-10 advantage in shots on goal and a 30-12 edge in shot attempts. The Blues were fortunate that it was just 2-1 at the first intermission thanks to a right toe save by Hofer on A.J. Greer, and Carter Verhaeghe’s backhand that went just wide of the post.

Sundqvist draws penalty, then scores

The Blues tied the game at 2 at 5:18 of the second period when Sundqvist redirected a Thomas shot on the power play. Sundqvist put the Blues on the power play by drawing an interference call on Eetu Luostarinen after a faceoff in the Panthers zone.

It was Sundqvist’s second power-play goal of the season, and first since Nov. 12 in Boston. Bolduc picked up an assist for his first multi-point game since Nov. 25 in Jim Montgomery's first game as Blues coach.

After a lopsided first period, the Blues responded in the second by accumulating more than double the expected goals of Florida, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Panthers, though, still outshot St. Louis, 10-9.

Settling old scores

Jake Neighbours fought Sam Bennett off the opening faceoff at center ice, retribution for Bennett’s high, late hit on Neighbours when the two teams met on Dec. 20 in Sunrise. Two months ago, Bennett thumped Neighbours along the boards in the head in the third period in a hit that Blues coach Jim Montgomery called “a real dangerous hit. That’s not a hit that’s supposed to be in the league.”

Bennett was not called for a penalty in the game, and faced zero supplementary discipline from the Department of Player Safety for the hit.

Bennett was in the starting lineup for the Panthers, and Montgomery started Neighbours’ line with Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou. But when Neighbours shifted to center to take the opening faceoff against Bennett (instead of Schenn), it was apparent what was about to happen.

It was Neighbours’ first fight of the season, and he missed a couple shifts after the penalties expired while he was back in the dressing room.