Barkov leads Panthers to win over Blackhawks

CHICAGO (AP) — Aleksander Barkov had a goal and two assists and the surging Florida Panthers beat the Chicago Blackhawks on 5-2 on Sunday for their third straight win.

Aaron Ekblad, Brandon Montour, MacKenzie Weegar and Anton Lundell also scored as Eastern Conference-leading Florida won for the seventh time in eight games and finished a five-game road trip at 4-1-0.

The Panthers are 3-0 following the All-Star break and gelling when away from South Florida. They're an impressive 23-3-0 at home and have improved to 12-7-5 on the road.

According to Florida coach Andrew Brunette, there's no need for the high-scoring Panthers to be flashy all the time.

“I think we've managed the game pretty well on the road of late,” Brunette said. “I thought at times (before) we did a little fire-wagoning. We have so much skill and we can can play at a pretty high level some time, we can get a little carried away.

“I thought we did an excellent job on this trip of playing road hockey. Whatever they're giving us, we're taking. We're kind of grinding through it, and were finding ways to score and do the right things.”

Florida entered the game leading the NHL in scoring at 4.14 goals and 36.5 shots per game. In this one, the Panthers got three goals from defensemen.

Ekblad, one of the NHL's top offensive blueliners, scored his 13th goal. Weegar and Montour each added their fifth.

“We have good, mobile defensemen out there,” Montour said. "I think anybody from the back end can put the puck in the net.

Added Brunette: “They're been active, a big part of our offense all season. When they get going like that, they're dangerous."

Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists to increase his league-leading assist total to 53 and extend his points streak to