Aleksander Barkov reached two milestones with a shorthanded goal late in the first period of the Florida Panthers tough 4-1 win over the visiting Vegas Golden Knights.
After Zach Whitecloud opened the scoring at 7:51 by sending a rising shot from the right faceoff dot over Spencer Knight’s shoulder, Barkov tied the game with 29 seconds left in the frame after a stellar effort on the penalty kill.
Barkov tracked down old teammate Reilly Smith at center ice, stole the puck from him, dished off to Anton Lundell to gain the zone, and then readied himself to one-time the rookie’s return cross past Robin Lehrer for both his 200th career goal and 500th NHL point.