SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Aleksander Barkov scored a power-play goal with 18 seconds left in overtime, giving the Florida Panthers a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Friday night.
Oskar Sundqvist got his third goal of the season for St. Louis, coming midway through the first period. Uvis Balinskis got his first of the season for Florida, with Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk assisting midway through the second.
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Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) and defenseman Niko Mikkola (77) defend the goal against St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk, right, during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, left, defends the goal against St. Louis Blues center Jordan Kyrou (25) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
St. Louis Blues center Radek Faksa (12) skates with the puck as Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (7) defends during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The puck gets past St. Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer on a goal scored by Florida Panthers defenseman Uvis Balinskis during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
St. Louis Blues center Oskar Sundqvist (70) reacts after scoring a goal against Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
St. Louis Blues center Oskar Sundqvist reacts after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Florida Panthers defenseman Uvis Balinskis, second from left, is congratulated after scoring a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
St. Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer (30) defends the goal against Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
St. Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer (30) and defenseman Ryan Suter (22) defend the goal against Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
St. Louis Blues center Dylan Holloway (81) and Florida Panthers left wing Jonah Gadjovich (12) fall to the ice during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
It stayed that way until the 65th minute, when Barkov ended it with his 10th goal of the season.
Joel Hofer stopped 25 shots for the Blues. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots for Florida.
Blues: Defenseman Philip Broberg played Friday, one night after missing the game at Tampa Bay because of illness. Blues coach Jim Montgomery kept center Alexandre Tesier in the lineup after a strong game against the Lightning. “It was the best game I’ve seen him play and I want him to continue to build off that,” Montgomery said. Tesier rewarded him with an assist.
Panthers: In October, Florida distributed Stanley Cup rings to players and coaches. On Thursday, many other team employees got their rings. And Friday, the Panthers began distributing them to 158 season-ticket holders who have been involved for 30 years. The team calls them Legacy members. “Part of our legacy,” Panthers President Matthew Caldwell said.
Barkov was tripped by Brayden Schenn with 42.3 seconds left in overtime, giving Florida a power play that led to the gamewinner.
Montgomery — the former coach in Boston and Dallas — is now one of 37 coaches who have led three different franchises against Florida. Also on that list: Panthers coach Paul Maurice.
The Blues finish a three-game trip Monday in Detroit. The Panthers have a back-to-back with Tampa Bay, starting in Tampa on Sunday and back home on Monday.
AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) and defenseman Niko Mikkola (77) defend the goal against St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk, right, during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, left, defends the goal against St. Louis Blues center Jordan Kyrou (25) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
St. Louis Blues center Radek Faksa (12) skates with the puck as Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (7) defends during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The puck gets past St. Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer on a goal scored by Florida Panthers defenseman Uvis Balinskis during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
St. Louis Blues center Oskar Sundqvist (70) reacts after scoring a goal against Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
St. Louis Blues center Oskar Sundqvist reacts after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Florida Panthers defenseman Uvis Balinskis, second from left, is congratulated after scoring a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
St. Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer (30) defends the goal against Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
St. Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer (30) and defenseman Ryan Suter (22) defend the goal against Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
St. Louis Blues center Dylan Holloway (81) and Florida Panthers left wing Jonah Gadjovich (12) fall to the ice during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — A car plowed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, killing at least two people and injuring at least 60 others in what authorities called a deliberate attack.
The driver was arrested at the scene shortly after the car barreled into the market at around 7 p.m., when it was teeming with holiday shoppers looking forward to the weekend.
Verified bystander footage distributed by the German news agency dpa showed the suspect’s arrest on a walkway in the middle of the road. A nearby police officer pointing a handgun at the man shouted at him as he lay prone. Other officers soon arrived to take the man into custody.
The two people confirmed dead were an adult and a toddler, but officials said additional deaths couldn't be ruled out because 15 people had been seriously injured.
The violence shocked the city, bringing its mayor to the verge of tears and marring a festive event that's part of a centuries-old German tradition. It also prompted several other German towns to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburg's loss.
The suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who moved to Germany in 2006, Tamara Zieschang, the interior minister for the state of Saxony-Anhalt, said at a news conference. He has been practicing medicine in Bernburg, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Magdeburg, she said.
“As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city," Saxony-Anhalt's governor, Reiner Haseloff, told reporters. "Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many."
The violence occurred in Magdeburg, a city of about 240,000 people west of Berlin that serves as Saxony-Anhalt’s capital. Friday's attack came eight years after an Islamic extremist drove a truck into crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring many others. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.
Christmas markets are a huge part of German culture as an annual holiday tradition cherished since the Middle Ages and successfully exported to much of the Western world. In Berlin alone, more than 100 markets opened late last month and brought the smells of mulled wine, roasted almonds and bratwurst to the capital. Other markets abound across the country.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said late last month that there were no concrete indications of a danger to Christmas markets this year, but that it was wise to be vigilant.
Hours after Friday's tragedy, the wail of sirens clashed with the market’s festive ornaments, stars and leafy garlands.
Magdeburg resident Dorin Steffen told dpa that she was at a concert in a nearby church when she heard the sirens. The cacophony was so loud “you had to assume that something terrible had happened.”
She called the attack “a dark day” for the city.
“We are shaking,” Steffen said. “Full of sympathy for the relatives, also in the hope that nothing has happened to our relatives, friends and acquaintances.”
The attack reverberated far beyond Magdeburg, with Haseloff calling it a catastrophe for the city, state and country. He said flags would be lowered to half-staff in Saxony-Anhalt and that the federal government planned to do the same.
“It is really one of the worst things one can imagine, particularly in connection with what a Christmas market should bring," the governor said.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the attack interrupted the anticipation of a peaceful Christmas.
Chancellor OIaf Scholz posted on X: “My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives. We stand beside them and beside the people of Magdeburg.”
NATO’s secretary-general, the European Commission’s president and U.S. Vice President-elect JD Vance also expressed their condolences on X.
“Our prayers go to the people affected by this terrible attack on a Christmas market in Germany. What a ghastly attack so close to Christmas,” Vance wrote.
Magdeburg Mayor Simone Borris, who was on the verge of tears, said officials plan to arrange a memorial at the city’s cathedral on Saturday.
After a soccer match Friday evening between Bayern Munich and Leipzig, Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen asked fans at the club’s stadium to observe a minute of silence.
Moulson reported from Berlin.
Security guards stand in front of a cordoned-off Christmas Market after a car crashed into a crowd of people, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Two firefighters walk through a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A firefighter walks through a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Reiner Haseloff, Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, center, is flanked by Tamara Zieschang, Minister of the Interior and Sport of Saxony-Anhalt, left, and Simone Borris, Mayor of the City of Magdeburg, at a press conference after a car plowed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A police officer guards at a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A police officer guards at a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A police officer guards at a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A police officer guards at a blocked road near a Christmas Market, after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A police officer guards at a blocked road near a Christmas market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Police officers guard at a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Police officers guard at a blocked road near a Christmas market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A police officer speaks with a man at a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Special police forces attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
Reiner Haseloff (M, CDU), Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, makes a statement after an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
Reiner Haseloff (M, CDU), Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, makes a statement after an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
A policeman is seen at the Christmas market where an incident happened in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
In this screen grab image from video, special police forces attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Thomas Schulz/dpa via AP)
A view of the cordoned-off Christmas market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
In this screen grab image from video, emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Thomas Schulz/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Dörthe Hein/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Dörthe Hein/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Dörthe Hein/dpa via AP)
