Björnfot’s First Two-Goal Night Fuels Panthers’ 5–1 Win Over Blackhawks.

Defenseman Tobias Björnfot recorded the first two-goal performance of his NHL career, helping the Florida Panthers surge past the Chicago Blackhawks 5–1 on Sunday night. Florida erupted for four goals in the third period to secure its third consecutive victory. Björnfot, a journeyman blueliner with just three career goals across seven NHL seasons and 139 games, opened the scoring late in the second period. Off a faceoff in the Chicago zone, he circled behind the net and forced the puck through goaltender Spencer Knight’s pads with 4:27 remaining. Chicago answered just before the intermission when Tyler Bertuzzi netted his team-leading 25th goal with 29.3 seconds left in the period, finishing Ilya Mikheyev’s pass from the edge of the crease to even the score. Florida regained control early in the third. Mackie Samoskevich put the Panthers back in front at 5:20 when his shot from the slot slipped under Knight’s arm and crossed the goal line. Carter Verhaeghe followed 2:04 later with a one-timer from the slot to make it 3–1. Sam Reinhart sealed the outcome with an empty-net goal with 1:49 remaining. Björnfot capped the night by scoring again with 22 seconds left, cruising into the slot and finishing a feed from Verhaeghe. Daniil Tarasov stopped 19 shots for Florida, which improved to six wins in its last eight games and moved eight games above .500 for the first time this season. Knight made 20 saves for Chicago and dropped to 0–2 against his former club.

The Panthers earned the win despite playing the night before in Minnesota, where they claimed a 4–3 overtime victory.

Florida will host Utah on Tuesday, while Chicago travels to Minnesota for its next matchup.