Unlucky Panthers open road trip with 4-3 shootout loss to Blue Jackets

On a day when the Florida Panthers made off-ice headlines for acquiring Jiri Hudler, Teddy Purcell and Jakub Kindl, the club dropped a 4-3 shootout decision to the Columbus Blue Jackets to kick off a five-game road trip.

The Panthers opened the scoring when Aleksander Barkov notched his third goal since returning to the lineup after a six-game absence at 11:59 of the first period. Jussi Jokinen and Jaromir Jagr picked up the assists as a pretty passing play between the trio ended up with the puck deflecting into the net off of Barkov's skate.

After having a goal taken off the board earlier, Vincent Trocheck scored his 19th of the season midway through the second stanza to put the Cats up by two. Trocheck took a pass from Alex Petrovic and beat Joonas Korpisalo top shelf from the right circle. Garrett Wilson collected the second assist and also set a nice screen on the goal.

Scott Hartnell lit the lamp 36 seconds later to get the Blue Jackets on the board and bag his 20th of the campaign. The veteran winger took a Alexander Wennberg feed and out-waited Roberto Luongo before firing into a gaping net.

The Blue Jackets tied the game early in the third period when Seth Jones scored his first goal in a Columbus uniform. Brandon Dubinsky and Nick Foligno combined to set up the power-play marker, which somehow knuckled its way by Luongo.

Brandon Saad punched home a rebound at the 7:21 mark to give Columbus the lead. Hartnell and Wennberg picked up the assists on Saad's 24th, giving each a second point on the afternoon.

The Panthers rallied with a power-play goal from rookie Logan Shaw with 5:42 remaining to pick up point number 78. Shaw swooped in to clean up a Nick Bjugstad rebound after Dmitry Kulikov set up the big center's blast.

After a scoreless overtime that saw a Columbus goal waved off due to a high stick, Dubinsky scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Blue Jackets the bonus point. After initially losing the puck, Dubinsky bested Luongo to open round three after Barkov and Bjugstad each hit the post. Korpisalo stopped Trocheck to register his 11th win of the season, ending the Cats modest two-game winning streak in the process. The Panthers (3-0-2) do have points in their last five.

Yarn & Stitches

• Columbus, who came into the tilt with a 6-1-3 record over its last ten, ended a three-game losing streak to Florida.
• Jussi Jokinen's first period assist on the Barkov goal was the 500th point of his NHL career. Congrats on the milestone, Jussi!
• Jaromir Jagr's assist on that goal pulled him within three points of tying Gordie Howe for third place all-time.
• Nick Bjugstad has 3 points (1G/2A) in his last five games. Bjugstad led all skaters with five shots on goal.
• Roberto Luongo finished the game with 22 saves and stopped Cam Atkinson and Alexander Wennberg in the shootout before yielding Brandon Dubinsky's game-winner.
• war-on-ice has the advanced stats breakdown for you right here.
• NHL.com has the highlights for you to see with your own eyes.
• Go back to Ohio and check out The Cannon for the other side of the final meeting between the Cats and Jackets./