Panthers Beat Canucks In Shootout, Win 4th Straight
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SUNRISE (The Sports Xchange) -- Aleksander Barkov got the winning goal in a shootout as the Florida Panthers outscored the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 on Sunday at the BB&T Center.
Brandon Pirri also scored for Florida in the shootout. Jared McCann scored for Vancouver, but when Sven Baertschi missed, the game was over.
In regulation, Panthers right winger Jaromir Jagr posted a goal and an assist. He now has 732 career goals, which moves him past Marcel Dionne for fourth place on the NHL list, nine goals behind Brett Hull, who is third.
Florida won its fourth straight game and its 10th out of its past 13 -- but it wasn't easy.
There were four lead changes, and goalie Roberto Luongo, who spent eight years with the Canucks, had a hard time controlling Vancouver's potent offense.
Fortunately for Florida, the Panthers scored five goals on Ryan Miller. Besides Jagr, the Panthers also got the first goal of the season by left winger Shawn Thornton, the 10th for center Vincent Trocheck and the eighth for defenseman Aaron Ekblad.
Vancouver got the 10th goal of the season by right winger Jannik Hansen, the fourth for Baertschi, the third for right winger Derek Dorsett and the 15th for left winger Daniel Sedin.
But it wasn't enough for the Canucks, who have lost four of their past five games. During that span, the Canucks have allowed 19 goals.
The Panthers battled back from two deficits in the first period. Thornton tied it 1-1 when he was the beneficiary of a poor clearing attempt by the Canucks.
The Panthers tied the score 2-2 on their power play when Jagr, camped out to the right of goal, received a pass and showed his still-quick hands, beating Miller to his glove side.
Florida's took its first lead with 14:22 left in the second period as Trocheck, skating down the middle of the ice, tried to pass the puck to his right. But when the puck was deflected back to him, Trocheck capitalized on his good fortune, beating Miller five-hole.
After Dorsett tied the score 3-3, Jagr provided another highlight, flipping a blind pass to Ekblad, who converted on the great set-up for a power-play goal.
Sedin tied the score 4-4 on an odd-man rush to force overtime and the eventual shootout.
NOTES: C Henrik Sedin, Vancouver's captain who has been out since suffering a lower-body injury on Thursday, missed his second straight game. ... Other injured Canucks: D Dan Hamhuis (jaw), C Brandon Sutter (abdomen) and D Luca Sbisa (hand). ... Vancouver also scratched D Andrew Pedan and LW Ronalds Kenins. ... C Dave Bolland, who has been sent to the Panthers' AHL team in Portland (Maine), is Florida's highest-paid forward at $5.5 million per season yet has just one goal and four assists in 25 games. ... Panthers C Nick Bjugstad (migraines) has been out since Dec. 1. ... Panthers defensemen Alex Petrovic and Steven Kampfer remain out with lower-body injuries. ... Florida also scratched C Derek MacKenzie (lower-body injury) and C Quinton Howden.
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