Barkov was noted for his third point of the evening when, in a numerical disadvantage, he touched the puck on to Reinhart who slotted in 4-2 behind Oettinger. Ekblad was also noted for his third point of the evening at the goal. The goal was Reinhart’s third shorthanded goal this season.
In the third period, Mackie Samoskevich punctuated the event with his 5-2 goal. A quick counter attack by the Panthers gave Samoskevich space and with a nimble shot he set up Oettinger for his second goal of the season.
Barkov’s fourth point of the night made Sam Reinhart a two-goal shooter. Barkov found Reinhart at the far post to make it 6-2. Reinhart has now scored five goals in games played outside of North America, the most ever. The goal was his ninth overall this season.
– Do you mean we stayed in the sauna? They also worked hard and they came ready to play, says Dallas coach Pete DeBoer about the team’s start.
Dallas cleaned up the numbers via two late goals. Marvin Bourque made it 6-3 after 15:38 and Jamie Benn made it 6-4 with 35 seconds left.
It was a special night for the Finnish players on the team. A total of seven in number. And they were treated well by the Finnish fans who got to see ten goals. A new triple record for an amtch outside of North America. The previous record was nine (Ottawa-Detroit in the 2022 Global Series and Colorado-Columbus in the 2023 Global Series)
– There are probably a few players who are trying to get Finnish passports right now. It was a great atmosphere, fun for the players. We got to see seven incredible Finnish players. They are probably all very proud, and they should be, of their heritage and where it comes from. It was a good match for the fans to watch as well. Ten goals, something none of the coaches were very happy with, and they could probably have been ten more, says Panthers coach Paul Maurice.
With the victory, the Panthers improved their season record to 8-3-1 and now have four straight victories. The Stars (7-3-0) lost two straight. The second meeting in Tampere will be played on Saturday, starting at 17:00 Swedish time. The match will be broadcast on Viaplay.
