Four points from a first
Sandis Vilmanis had never scored more than a single point in an NHL game. On Wednesday night in Sunrise he took four. He scored twice, set up Seth Jones for another and added a second assist as the Florida Panthers beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3. It was the first multi-point game of his career.
He opened the scoring with 15:17 left in the first period, finishing from point-blank range on a centring pass from Sam Reinhart after a Chicago turnover in the neutral zone.
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Florida builds the cushion
The Panthers doubled the lead within eight minutes. Connor Bedard went off for tripping, and Brady Tkachuk sent a blind pass to Carter Verhaeghe that deflected off Spencer Knight’s pads for a tap-in 20 seconds into the power play. Jones made it 3-0 midway through the second, set up by Vilmanis.
Knight, the 2019 first-round pick Florida sent to Chicago for Jones on March 1, 2025, has now lost all four starts against his old club. Jacob Markstrom stopped 17 shots at the other end, and the Panthers have won four of their last five.
Chicago makes it close, then falls away
Roman Kantserov put the Blackhawks on the board late in the second period for his team-leading seventh goal of the season. Frank Nazar then scored twice, the first on a shorthanded breakaway in the third that left Markstrom on his backside. Vilmanis restored a two-goal margin at 4-2 by pouncing on a loose puck inside the left circle, and Reinhart sealed the win with an empty-netter with 1:27 left.
Chicago has lost four in a row and seven of its last eight. It is the only team in the league without a road win, at 0-6-1. Winger Dillon Boucher, 29, made his NHL debut and logged 8:10 without a point.
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