COLUMBUS, Ohio-Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 33 shots for his fifth shutout of the season, Cam Atkinson had a goal and an assist, and the Columbus Blue Jackets shut out the Florida Panthers 4-0 on Thursday night for their 10th straight win.
Pierre-Luc Dubois had two assists for the Blue Jackets, who improved to 42-28-5 and joined
Philadelphia (1984-86) and Pittsburgh (2010-13) as the only NHL franchises to record 10-game win streaks in consecutive
seasons.
The shutout was the 24th of Bobrovsky's career and his seventh straight win. Sonny Milano, Seth Jones and Thomas Vanek-into an empty net-also scored for Columbus, which moved into a second-place tie in the Metropolitan Division with idle Pittsburgh, each with 89 points.
Florida dropped to 37-28-7. With 10 games left in the season, the Panthers remained a point behind the idle New Jersey Devils for a playoff spot.
After a scoreless first, Atkinson got Columbus on the board at 59 seconds of the second period, thanks to Artemi Panarin, who stole the puck just outside the blue line and provided a perfect feed. Atkinson beat Roberto Luongo with a one-timer low on the right side for his 18th goal of the season, while Panarin recorded his team-leading 44th assist.