Anderson, Bjorkstrand lead Jackets past Panthers
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Josh Anderson and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice each to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 7-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night at the BB&T Center.
Anderson has five goals this season, and Bjorkstrand has four. The Jackets (9-4-0) also got one goal and two assists from Boone Jenner, and Matt Calvert added two assists.
The Panthers (4-7-1) lost their third consecutive game despite getting one goal and two assists from second-line center Vincent Trocheck.
Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who entered the game ranked fifth in the league with a 1.97 goals-against average, made 31 saves and improved to 8-2-0.
Florida goalie James Reimer was pulled for the second game in a row after stopping just 15 of 19 shots. Antti Niemi replaced him and stopped 18 of 21 shots.
Florida opened the scoring with 4:57 elapsed in the first period as Trocheck used his speed to drive to the net. His shot was stopped, but Mark Pysyk put in the rebound.
Columbus closed the first period with two consecutive goals. Brandon Dubinsky skated behind the net and found Anderson, who roofed the puck over Reimer's stick. Then, Anderson, working from the slot, made it 2-1 when he took a pass from Markus Nutivaara and beat Reimer with a wicked wrist shot.
Columbus scored three of the five goals in the second period.
Florida tied the score just 35 seconds into the second as Trocheck stole the puck and got it to Radim Vrbata before rookie defenseman Ian McCoshen scored on a long shot from the point.
Columbus went up 3-2 less than five minutes later. Markus Hannikainen got to a rebound and scored on a backhander that eluded the clearing attempts by Pysyk and Aleksander Barkov.
Florida tied the score 3-3 at 8:43 of the second as Trocheck scored short-handed. Trocheck mostly whiffed on his shot, but it fooled Bobrovsky, trickling through him five-hole.
Reimer was pulled just 28 seconds later after Bjorkstrand whistled a shot over the goalie's glove. And Bjorkstrand scored again two minutes later, losing McCoshen after a battle along the left boards and then walking in on Niemi.
In the third, Tyler Motte pounced on a loose puck to make it 6-3, and Jenner scored on a power-play deflection to give Columbus a 7-3 advantage. Jenner's goal came off an Artemi Panarin shot.
NOTES: It was Military Appreciation Night at the BB&T Center, and the Panthers wore camouflage uniforms for warm-ups. ... Columbus was without RW Cam Atkinson (lower-body injury) for the second consecutive game. ... Columbus D Gabriel Carlsson (undisclosed) hasn't played since Oct. 13, but he is believed to be near a return. On Tuesday, he practiced for the first time since getting injured. ... Florida has four injured players, including G Roberto Luongo, who played just four games before being sidelined due to a right thumb injury. He hasn't played since Oct. 20 and will miss at least one more week. ... The Panthers are also missing LW Connor Brickley, LW Jared McCann and RW Colton Sceviour.