NHL

Columbus Blue Jackets at Florida Panthers

· National Hockey League
Final
6 - 7

Bennett scores in overtime as the Panthers top the Blue Jackets 7-6

Panthers win 7-6 OT thriller over Blue Jackets

Bennett and Brad Marchand each had a goal and three assists for Florida, which trailed 4-1 midway through the second period. Carter Verhaeghe had two goals and an assist, and defenseman Seth Jones had a goal and an assist.

A streaking Bennett got a slick pass from Marchand and beat Elvis Merzlikins on the goaltender's stick side. It was Bennett's seventh goal of the season.

Cole Sillinger, Isac Lundestrom, Dmitri Voronkov and Miles Wood each had a goal and an assist for Columbus in the opener of a three-game trip. Damon Severson and Kirill Marchenko also scored.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots for Florida, and Merzlikins finished with 33 saves.

Voronkov, Marchenko and Wood scored in the second to help Columbus open a 4-1 lead. It was No. 10 on the season for Voronkov and Marchenko.

Verhaeghe responded with back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart, and Jones made it 4-4 with a power-play goal with 3:48 left in the second.

Columbus regained the lead on Sillinger's third goal with 1:34 remaining in the period, and Lundestrom's first goal of the season made it 6-4 at 2:27 of the third.

But Marchand answered with his 16th goal at 4:21, and Anton Lundell tied it at 6 with 5:42 remaining. It was Lundell's seventh on the season.

Up next Blue Jackets: At Washington on Sunday.

Panthers: Host the New York Islanders on Sunday.

Regular Season Series

FLA leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 7:40 Damon Severson Goal (2) Tip-In, assists: Ivan Provorov (6), Cole Sillinger (10)
Goal 1st Period 9:47 Evan Rodrigues Goal (8) Wrist Shot, assists: Mackie Samoskevich (10)
Goal 2nd Period 5:26 Dmitri Voronkov Goal (10) Tip-In, assists: Ivan Provorov (7), Zach Werenski (21)
Goal 2nd Period 5:57 Miles Wood Goal (8) Backhand, assists: Charlie Coyle (15), Isac Lundeström (4)
Goal 2nd Period 10:24 Kirill Marchenko Goal (10) Backhand, assists: Adam Fantilli (9), Dmitri Voronkov (10)
Goal 2nd Period 11:15 Carter Verhaeghe Goal (6) Tip-In, assists: Seth Jones (11), Brad Marchand (13)
Goal 2nd Period 13:11 Carter Verhaeghe Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Brad Marchand (14), Sam Bennett (8)
Goal 2nd Period 16:12 Seth Jones Goal (4) Snap Shot, assists: Sam Reinhart (11), Sam Bennett (9)
Goal 2nd Period 18:26 Cole Sillinger Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Denton Mateychuk (6)
Goal 3rd Period 2:27 Isac Lundeström Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Miles Wood (4), Brendan Smith (2)
Goal 3rd Period 4:21 Brad Marchand Goal (16) Wrist Shot, assists: Sam Bennett (10), Carter Verhaeghe (13)
Goal 3rd Period 14:18 Anton Lundell Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Eetu Luostarinen (8)
Goal 4th Period 4:56 Sam Bennett Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Brad Marchand (15), Gustav Forsling (12)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/cbj.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCBJ https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/fla.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originFLA
20 Blocked Shots 7
15 Hits 30
5 Takeaways 4
31 Shots 40
1 Power Play Goals 2
4 Power Play Opportunities 4
25.0 Power Play Percentage 50.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
29 Faceoffs Won 39
42.6 Faceoff Win Percent 57.4
21 Giveaways 12
4 Total Penalties 4
8 Penalty Minutes 8
Florida Panthers Florida Panthers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Cole Schwindt, C Injured Reserve Dec 2
Matthew Tkachuk, LW Injured Reserve Nov 26
Columbus Blue Jackets Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Mathieu Olivier, RW Injured Reserve Dec 2

Game Information

Amerant Bank Arena

Location: Sunrise, FL
Attendance: 19,269 | Capacity:

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Washington 3 9 37 17
Carolina 2 8 36 17
NY Islanders 3 10 35 16
Pittsburgh 5 7 33 14
Philadelphia 3 8 33 15
New Jersey 1 12 33 16
NY Rangers 3 12 33 15
Columbus 6 9 32 13

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Tampa Bay 2 10 34 16
Boston 0 13 34 17
Montreal 3 9 33 15
Detroit 3 11 33 15
Toronto 4 11 30 13
Ottawa 4 11 30 13
Florida 2 12 28 13
Buffalo 4 13 26 11
Full Standings