SUNRISE, Fla. — Matthew Tkachuk scored twice and the Florida Panthers defeated the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 on Wednesday night.
Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Anton Lundell and Jonah Gadjovich also scored for the Panthers while Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves.
Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley scored for the Coyotes while Karel Vejmelka made 38 saves.
The game kicked off with two fights in the first seven seconds, first between Ryan Lomberg and Jack McBain, then Gadjovich and Liam O’Brien.
Players from both sides met at center ice during pre-game warm-ups, with the Panthers contingent unhappy after Arizona forward Jason Zucker left Florida forward Nick Cousins with a concussion after hitting him from behind in the last meeting between these two teams on Jan. 2.
Zucker was in the pre-game meet-up but was not involved in the brawl following puck drop.
Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov had an assist in his first game back from a lower-body injury which kept him out of the team's past three games.
Defenseman Gustav Forsling also returned to the lineup for Florida and notched two assists after missing the team's previous game in Nashville while on family leave.
Reinhart extended his point streak to 11 games and notched his 60th point of the season, becoming the fourth player in franchise history to do so in 47 games or fewer.
It was the 1,813th career regular-season game for Panthers coach Paul Maurice, second-most in NHL history.
UP NEXT:
Coyotes: Visit Tampa Bay on Thursday night.
Panthers: Visit Pittsburgh on Friday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale. The Coyotes play at Mullett Arena on ASU's Tempe campus.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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