CHICAGO (AP) — Defenseman Tobias Bjornfot scored his first two goals this season — giving him just three over seven NHL seasons and 139 career games — and the Florida Panthers defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 on Sunday night for their third straight win.
Mackie Samoskevich and Carter Verhaeghe connected 2:04 apart early in the third period and Sam Reinhart added an empty-netter as the Panthers won for the sixth time in eight. Daniil Tarasov made 19 saves and the two-time defending Stanley Cup Panthers moved eight games over .500 for the first time this season.
Tyler Bertuzzi scored his team-leading 25th goal for the Blackhawks. Spencer Knight, who started his career with Florida, made 20 saves and fell to 0-2 against his former team.
The teams generated only a handful of chances through the first and second periods and neither pressured with a territorial edge.
Bjornfot's fluke goal opened the scoring with 4:27 left in the second. From a faceoff in the Chicago zone, he circled the net and jammed in the puck through Knight’s pads from the right side.
It was the journeyman's first goal in five games this season. His previous score came in May 2021 with Los Angeles during the COVID-19 altered season.
Bertuzzi tied it 1-all with 29.3 seconds left. At the edge of the crease, he took Ilya Mikheyev's feed and shoveled a high shot past Tarasov's stick side.
The Panthers responded with a four-goal third period, despite playing at Minnesota on Saturday and winning 4-3 in overtime.
Samoskevich put Florida back ahead at 5:20 of the final frame when his shot from the slot slipped under Knight's arm and trickled over the goal line.
Verhaeghe upped it to 3-1 just over two minutes later, firing a one-timer from the slot.
Reinhart scored into an empty net with 1:49 left. With Knight back in goal, Bjornfot connected with 22 seconds left after he cruised into the slot and fired in Verhaeghe's feed.
Panthers: Host Utah on Tuesday.
Blackhawks: At Minnesota on Tuesday.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Florida Panthers' Sam Bennett (9) and Niko Mikkola (77) celebrate after Bennett's goal against the Winnipeg Jets during second-period NHL hockey game action in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)
Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny live at the Grammy Awards and Rose Byrne’s Oscar-nominated performance in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Highguard is the latest entry in the ever-growing field of multiplayer shooters, Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista star in “The Wrecking Crew” and the third season of “Shrinking” checks in on Apple TV.
— If you haven’t seen Rose Byrne’s Oscar-nominated performance in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Mary Bronstein’s psychological drama arrives Friday, Jan. 30 on HBO Max. Byrne plays the stressed-out mother of a young, unseen child who’s struggling with a mystery illness. In her review, the AP’s Jocelyn Noveck wrote that the film “has given Byrne, an actor of effortless appeal in lighter films, a chance to display versatility and grit in surely the toughest dramatic role of her career.”
— Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista star in “The Wrecking Crew” (Prime Video, Wednesday) as estranged half brothers who reunite after their father’s mysterious death. The action comedy is directed by Angel Manuel Soto, who made 2023’s “Blue Beetle.”
— Ira Sachs’ “Peter Hujar’s Day,” the lead nominee to the Independent Film Spirit Awards, is a marvel of historical yet intimate dramatic resurrection. The film (Criterion Channel, Tuesday) is based on a transcript from a 1974 interview by the writer Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall) and her friend, the photographer Peter Hujar (Ben Whishaw). Rosenkrantz had planned a book about how artists spend their time. But the book never happened, and Sachs, after coming across the transcripts, dramatizes their dialogue.
— In “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not,” the filmmaker Marina Zenovich profiles the irascible “Saturday Night Live” and “Fletch” star. For the film (HBO Max, Saturday, Jan. 31), Zenovich interviews the complicated and sometimes combative comedian about his career, with glimpses of his daily life. Perspectives are offered by Dan Aykroyd, Beverly D’Angelo, Goldie Hawn, Lorne Michaels, Ryan Reynolds and Martin Short.
— AP Film Writer Jake Coyle
— ’Tis the season — the 2026 Grammy Awards season, that is. On Sunday Feb. 1, the 68th annual award show will air live on CBS. Watch as Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga and many more go head-to-head in the top prize categories. Plus, the show doubles as a kind of bespoke live concert viewing experience — and who doesn’t like that? The 2026 Grammys can also be watched through live TV streaming services that include CBS in their lineup, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV. Paramount+ premium plan subscribers will be able to stream the Grammys live; Paramount+ essential subscribers will have on-demand access the next day.
— California power pop-punk bands Joyce Manor return with their seventh full-length album Friday, the all-too-appropriately titled “I Used to Go to This Bar.” Spoken like a gently aging band whose penchant for hooks knows no bounds.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
— Benedict, the second eldest Bridgerton, takes center stage in season 4 of the Netflix romance series, It’s about the love stories of a large family in London during the Regency Era. Season 4 has “Cinderella” vibes with Luke Thompson’s Benedict looking for an enchanting “woman in silver” who is actually Sophie, a housemaid (Yerin Ha) working for his family. Part 1 drops Thursday with the remaining episodes arriving in February.
— The third season of “Shrinking” checks in Wednesday on Apple TV. The series follows Jason Segel as a therapist named Jimmy, a widowed dad to a teenage girl, who shares a practice with characters played by Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams. Between Jimmy's colleagues, neighbors and friends, he forms a new kind of family. Season 3 features guest stars Michael J. Fox, Jeff Daniels, Sherry Cola, Isabella Gomez, and Candice Bergen.
— School's back in session. “School Spirits” starring Peyton List, that is. The Paramount+ series also returns for a third season on Wednesday. List stars as a teen trapped in the afterlife which happens to be her high school. She's there with other ghosts who are also former students that help Maddie to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death.
— Kaley Cuoco and Sam Claflin star in a new mystery for MGM+ called “Vanished.” Cuoco plays a woman whose boyfriend (Claflin) goes missing on a train to France. The four-part limited-series premieres Sunday, Feb. 1.
— Alicia Rancilio
— Highguard is the latest entry in the ever-growing field of multiplayer shooters, offering yet another way to get online with your friends and blow stuff up. In this case, you are Wardens — “arcane gunslingers sent to battle for control of a mythical continent.” Judging by the trailer, you’ll be able to ride mythical beasts and wield magical powers along with the typical arsenal of weapons. It comes from a new studio called Wildlight Entertainment, whose founders have worked on hits like Call of Duty, Apex Legends and Titanfall. And it’s free-to-play, so you might as well give it a shot Monday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S on PC.
— Bandai Namco’s Code Vein, from 2019, tried to answer the question: What if you took the demanding combat of Dark Souls and added vampires? The bloodsuckers — known here as Revenants — are back in Code Vein II, but a mysterious force is turning them into mindless monstrosities. Your job is to travel back in time and prevent the damage before all the Revenants get stupid. The good news is that you can still drain blood from your enemies and use it to upgrade your own fighting skills. Quench your thirst Friday, Jan. 30, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S or PC.
— Lou Kesten
Yerin Ha and Luke Thompson arrive for the World premiere of "Bridgerton" season 4 on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
