Barkov Scores Twice, Panthers Beat Coyotes 4-2
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SUNRISE (AP) — Aleksander Barkov scored two goals and Jonathan Huberdeau had three assists as the Florida Panthers beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 Thursday night.
Mike Hoffman and MacKenzie Weegar also scored goals for the Panthers, who won for the first time in three games. Roberto Luongo made 32 saves and broke a five-game losing streak. Evgenii Dadonov added two assists.
Brad Richardson and Michael Grabner scored for the Coyotes, who lost their third straight. Darcy Kuemper stopped 18 shots.
Trailing 3-1, Arizona closed to 3-2 when Richardson's shot from the point got through traffic and past Luongo with 2:24 left in the third.
Barkov's second goal, an empty-netter with 50 seconds left, made the score 4-2.
Hoffman broke a 1-1 tie with his power-play goal at 10:55 of the second. Hoffman beat Kuemper with a shot from the right circle.
Weegar stretched the Panthers lead to 3-1 when his shot from the high slot went over Kuemper's glove at 5:09 of the third.
Weegar had a potential second goal overturned with 9:07 left in the third when Arizona challenged the goal and it was ruled that Barkov interfered with Kuemper.
Grabner made the score 1-0 with a short-handed goal at 7:45 of the first. Grabner grabbed the puck from Jonathan Huberdeau near the blue line and beat Luongo on a breakaway. The Coyotes set a franchise record with 16 short-handed goals this season.
The Panthers tied the score at 1-all when Barkov's shot from the slot beat Kuemper on the stick side with 14.6 left in the first. Barkov extended his points streak to eight games.
NOTES: The Panthers have two 80-point players for the first time in franchise history IN Barkov (87) and Huberdeau (82). ... Keith Yandle's second assist on the Hoffman goal set a Florida franchise record for points in a season by a defenseman (58). ... C Jayce Hawryluk returned after missing three games with a lower-body injury. ... Coyotes D Jason Demers played his 600th NHL game. ... UFC stars Yoel Romero and Jacare Souza dropped the ceremonial puck before the game.
UP NEXT
Coyotes: Visit the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
Panthers: Host the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
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