After falling behind in the first period on a Nazem Kadri (10) wrist shot, the Florida Panthers came back to score five unanswered goals to defeat the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-1 on Tuesday night.
Florida’s second line of Reilly Smith (16), Vincent Trocheck (14), and Jussi Jokinen (9) each scored a goal and an assist, showing that it’s not always Jagr, Barkov, and Huberdeau. Trocheck’s goal was so good it looked like it came straight out of NHL 94.
Barkov’s marker (13), which opened the scoring for the Panthers in the second period, came on a breakaway chance against Leafs netminder James Reimer. Reimer came in with a .937 save percentage but gave up all five Florida goals on 27 shots.
Brian Campbell earned two assists for the game, and now has five points in his last four appearances. Also figuring into the scoring for the Panthers were Alex Petrovic, with his first career goal, Erik Gudbranson with a helper, and Roberto Luongo, who along with his assist on Barkov’s marker also made 22 saves for his 423rd career victory, tying him for seventh all-time.
The Panthers skate into their week off with 63 points in just 49 games and a five-point lead in the Atlantic Division. Their next game (aside from coach Gallant, Jagr, Aaron Ekblad and Luongo) is seven days from now against the Washington Capitals. Pension Plan Puppets has more on the Leafs.