“Sometimes they go in, and sometimes not,” Boqvist said. “I feel like our line played pretty well. We’re working hard and winning a lot of pucks down low, trying to play with speed. When we have time and space to do stuff, we will.”

From there, penalties proved costly for the Panthers.

After coming up short on their first two trips to the power play in the period, the third time was the charm for Utah as Logan Cooley lit the lamp to cut Florida’s lead to 2-1 at 13:41.

Stomping out any would-be comeback for Utah, Boqvist regained the two-goal cushion for the Panthers when he cashed in on the empty net from deep in his own zone to make it 3-1 at 17:59.

At 19:38, Eetu Luostarinen tacked on another empty-netter to make it 4-1.

Finishing strong, the Panthers led 12-3 in scoring chances at 5-on-5 in the third period.

“I liked the bench,” Maurice said. “I liked the mood of it. They’re pulling for each other, supporting each other, battling and grinding. Understanding we come into this building, these teams come wired for us and are ready. Get out of the first period even. We’re good on the road like that. Then I thought we built. Halfway through the first period we got our game going.”

THEY SAID IT

“He’s earned it. We’ve used him at left and right wing, and he’s played center for us. He’s played with different people. He’s a really competitive guy.” – Paul Maurice on Jesper Boqvist

“Speed, skill, hard work. He works really hard, but he also has that ability to take over games with his speed and skill. He has a great shot. We’ve seen that all year in practices and games. He’s fun to watch. He’s one of those players where it’s just a matter of time until he breaks out, and he’s breaking out right now. It’s been fun to watch.” – Aleksander Barkov on Jesper Boqvist

“He’s so good, right? It’s so fun to watch. Playing against him for a couple years, it’s not easy.” – Jesper Boqvist on Sergei Bobrovsky

CATS STATS

– Carter Verhaeghe extended his point streak to three games.

– The Panthers are 7-for-8 on the penalty kill over their last two games.

– The Panthers have four players with at least 30 points this season.

– Sergei Bobrovsky is the third goaltender to earn a win against 33 NHL franchises.

– Sam Bennett won a team-high nine faceoffs.

– Matthew Tkachuk and Jesper Boqvist each recorded five hits.

– The Panthers held Utah to just eight shot attempts at 5-on-5 in the third period.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Grab your popcorn.

Meeting for the third time this season, the Panthers will try to improve to 3-0-0 against the Boston Bruins when the two rivals clash at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.