The Florida Panthers beat the Anaheim Ducks by 4-1 count Friday night to build their second three-game winning streak of the season.
The victory pulled the Cats within a point of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
After a scoreless first period, Anaheim’s Andrew Cogliano took a little chip pass from former Panther Logan Shaw to open the scoring with a shorthanded goal 2:45 into the middle frame.
Colton Sceviour evened things up 1:33 later when beat a screened John Gibson, who robbed him in the first period, with a wrist shot from the high slot. Derek MacKenzie and Shawn Thornton drew the assists on the tying goal.
Jaromir Jagr put the Cats on top scoring on a spectacular individual effort to bag his 760th career goal at the 6:58 mark. Jagr circled around the net and stole the puck from defenseman Josh Manson and then froze Gibson with some nifty moves before stuffing the puck home.
The Panthers extended the lead midway through the period when Aaron Ekblad blasted in a power-play goal through traffic, with the assists going to Vincent Trocheck and Jonathan Marchessault, Florida top two scorers. Trocheck became the first Panther to reach the forty-point mark.
James Reimer made 14 of his 35 saves in third period, including this stop on Ryan Kesler, as the Ducks tried to rally back, but could not close the gap.
MacKenzie iced the tilt with a shorthanded empty-netter with 1:58 left in regulation time to give the Cats a prefect 3-0 record on this five-game road trip that turns slightly north to Los Angeles tonight.
Tar & Feathers
- In addition to tying the game with his seventh goal, Colton Sceviour registered a season-high seven shots and finished with a +2 rating.
- Fourth line pivot Derek MacKenzie also had a big game. Florida’s captain finished with two points, two shots, a block and four hits.
- Jaromir Jagr and Vincent Trocheck each extended point streaks to four games. Jagr has two goals and two assists while Trocheck has two goals and four helpers over that span.
- John Gibson made 27 stops and saw his record fall to 22-15-8 on the season.
- Iron man Andrew Cogliano appeared in his 763 straight game while Keith Yandle suited up for 607th time in a row. Those are the two current longest streaks in the league.
- Aaron Ekblad’s goal was his first since he lit the lamp on December 10, versus Vancouver. Ekblad has points in each of the last two games.
- For the other side of the Panthers season sweep of the Ducks, stop by Anaheim Calling./