Vilmanis Leads Panthers Past Blackhawks 5-3

Florida built an early lead and withstood a third-period push from Chicago to win 5-3 at Amerant Bank Arena on November 4. Sandis Vilmanis opened the scoring 4:43 into the game, and Carter Verhaeghe made it 2-0 with a power-play goal. Seth Jones extended the advantage to three early in the second period against his former team.

Roman Kantserov put Chicago on the board late in the second. Frank Nazar then scored twice in the third, including a short-handed breakaway goal, bringing the Blackhawks within one. Vilmanis scored again with 8:59 left, restoring Florida’s two-goal cushion, and Sam Reinhart added an empty-net goal with 1:27 remaining.

Vilmanis recorded his career’s first game with two goals and finished with four points. Reinhart had a goal and two assists, while Verhaeghe recorded a goal and an assist. Nazar’s pair accounted for Chicago’s two third-period goals; Kantserov had the other. Ethan Del Mastro had two assists, opening his season scoring account and posting his first multi-point game.

Florida improved to 9-5-2 and has won four of its last five games. Chicago fell to 4-11-1 and is 1-6-1 over its last eight. Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola left during the third period with an apparent left-leg injury and did not return. Florida visits Washington on Saturday, while Chicago visits Tampa Bay on Thursday.