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Reinhart has 3 points as Panthers hand Canucks coach Boudreau first non-OT loss

Florida picks up 5-2 win despite being outshot 44-26
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Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) defends the goal against Vancouver Canucks left wing Tanner Pearson (70) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Sam Reinhart had two goals and an assist and the Florida Panthers handed Vancouver Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau his first regulation loss in 10 games with a 5-2 victory Tuesday night in Sunrise, Fla.

Boudreau was 8-0-1 since taking over the Canucks on Dec. 6. Vancouver was 8-15-2 when he replaced Travis Green.

Aleksander Barkov scored his team-leading 15th goal and also had an assist for Florida. Aaron Ekblad had a goal and two assists, Maxim Mamin also scored, and Frank Vatrano and Anton Lundell each had two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 42 shots.

The Panthers move to 6-0-1 in their past seven games.

Jason Dickinson and Juho Lammiko scored for Vancouver and Thatcher Demko stopped 21 shots.

Leading 2-1, the Panthers scored twice 26 seconds apart in the second. Huberdeau’s power-play goal gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead at 8:46, and Mamin’s goal stretched the Panthers lead to 4-1.

Barkov scored a short-handed goal on a breakaway with 59.4 left in the second.

Ekblad put the Panthers ahead 1-0 when his shot from just inside the blue line beat Demko on the glove side at 5:18 of the first.

READ MORE: ‘It’s about the players’: new coach Boudreau a welcome refresh for Vancouver Canucks

Reinhart’s goal 1:08 later — a deflection of a shot from the blue line by Radko Gudas — made the score 2-0.

Dickinson closed the Canucks to 2-1 when his shot from the left circle got by Bobrovsky with 8:29 left in the first.

THE NEW GUYS

There have been five in-season coaching changes in the NHL this season, and this game marked the first time two of the replacement coaches went head-to-head, with Florida interim coach Andrew Brunette facing Boudreau.

NOTES: Brunette will coach the Atlantic Division All-Star Team at the 2022 NHL All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas from Feb. 4-5. … Tuesday’s game was exactly two years and two days after Vancouver’s most recent appearance on the Panthers’ home ice, a 5-2 Florida win on Jan. 9, 2020. … This is the second time Florida has more than 50 points through 36 games. The other was in 1995-96, the season that the Panthers went to the Stanley Cup final.

UP NEXT

Canucks: Visit Tampa Bay on Thursday.

Panthers: Host Dallas on Friday.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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