Tarasov turns back 46 shots; Blue Jackets beat Panthers 5-3

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Boone Jenner had two goals, Sean Kuraly scored short-handed and Daniil Tarasov turned back 46 shots as the Columbus Blue Jackets won 5-3 Sunday night, sending the Florida Panthers to their third straight loss.

Johnny Gaudreau contributed a goal and two assists, and Yegor Chinakhov added a goal for Columbus, which has won four of its last five at home. Tarasov faced a career-high 49 shots and 94 shot attempts in his first win since Oct. 23.

Matthew Tkachuk, Aaron Ekblad and Colin White scored for Florida, and Nick Cousins added two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18.

Florida went up 1-0 at 7:52 of the first when Tkachuk tipped in a Gustav Forsling one-timer from the blue line for his third goal in as many games.

Chinakhov knotted the score with nine minutes left in the first with a breakaway for his first goal since Oct. 30, and Jenner made it 2-1 with his team-leading third power-play goal at 2:53 of the second period.

Ekblad pulled Florida even, poking the puck between Tarasov’s pads with about three minutes left in the second period for his first goal since missing 11 games with a lower-body injury.

Kuraly put Columbus back in front at 1:57 of the third, deflecting in Eric Robinson’s shot with 35 seconds left in a Florida power-play for his fourth goal in as many games. Gaudreau then gave Columbus a two-goal lead at 7:55, firing from the left circle.

Jenner made it 5-2 with two minutes left in the game, followed by Colin White with 55 seconds left in the game.

UP NEXT

Florida: Hosts Boston on Wednesday night.

Columbus: Hosts Montreal on Wednesday night.

———

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports