Alexander Barkov has risen to his club Florida Panthers all-time leading scorer. Barkov provided a goal-scoring pass as Florida beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2.
Team captain Barkov played until the winning goal in the match, which was Gustav Forsling’s 3–2 goal in the second period. With that assist, Barkov is now up to 614 points (238 goals and 376 assists) in his ten seasons in Florida. The previous record was held by Jonathan Huberdeau with 613 points (198 goals and 415 assists).
– This is a great feeling, and I’m sure I’ll realize it even more after some time has passed, commented Barkov on the NHL’s website.
Barkov did not understand at first himself why his teammates celebrated the achievement so fiercely.
– I didn’t even realize what happened because I didn’t expect anything. When they all started cheering, it was a moment I will remember for the rest of my life, Barkov said.
Florida head coach Paul Maurice also had nice words to say about the Finnish team captain.
– He is perhaps the most humble man I have ever met, and certainly the most humble elite player I have ever met, commented Maurice.
With the win, Florida picked up points for the seventh game in a row, and moves up the standings into the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Mikko Rantanen getting closer to 50 goals
The Colorado Avalanche picked up their sixth straight win as the team defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5–0. Goalkeeper Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves as he kept a clean sheet for the fifth time this season. Georgiev shares first place in that NHL statistic with the New York Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin and the Washington Capitals’ Darcy Kuemper.
Mikko Rantanen made it 3–0 for Colorade with a power play goal in the second period. This was Rantanen’s 47th hit of the season. Rantanen looks to break the dream limit of 50 goals this season by a wide margin, and will have by far the best season of his NHL career. Rantanen’s goal record in his seven previous seasons is 36 goals from the 2021-2022 season.
Colorado, which still has 13 games left in the regular season, is the fourth best team in the Western Conference.
Video images from Viaplay
NHL Result:
Pittsburgh–Ottawa 1–2
Mikael Granlund PIT 0+0, -1, 15.35
Detroit–Florida 2–5 (1–2, 0–1, 1–2)
Wille Husso DET 20/25 saves
Aleksander Barkov FLA 0+1, +2, 18.43
Eetu Luostarinen FLA 0+1, +1, 16.40
Antion Lundell FLA 0+0, -1, 16.36
Olli Määtt DET 0+0, -4, 21.16
Colorado–Chicago 5–0
Mikko Rantanen COL 1+1
Edmonton–San Jose 5–4 after overtime
Los Angeles–Calgary 8–2
Rasmus Kupari LAK 0+2, +2, 11.26
