Florida 4, Arizona 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 21, 2019
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida
Referees:
Ghislain Hebert, Kendrick Nicholson
Linesmen:
Matt MacPherson, Jonny Murray
Attendance:
12576
By Field Level Media
Jonathan Huberdeau had his third three-assist game of the season, and Roberto Luongo snapped a personal five-game losing streak as the host Florida Panthers defeated the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 on Thursday night.
Huberdeau leads Florida with 59 assists, which is his career high. He assisted on goals by Aleksander Barkov, Mike Hoffman and MacKenzie Weegar.
Barkov added an empty-net goal with 50 seconds left for his 34th goal of the season, tying Hoffman for the team high.
Weegar nearly scored his second goal of the game with 9:07 left in the third period. But Arizona challenged the call, and the goal was disallowed due to goalie interference on Barkov. Had the goal stood, it would have been a fourth assist for Huberdeau.
Luongo, playing his first game since March 7, made 32 saves to end his skid, which included one overtime defeat and two shootout losses in his five-game stretch without a victory.
Arizona's Darcy Kuemper made 18 saves and took the loss. The Coyotes, fell into a tie for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference, lost their third straight game (0-2-1). The Colorado Avalanche won Thursday to pull into a tie for the final wild-card spot in the West.
The Coyotes opened the scoring with 7:45 gone in the first period as Michael Grabner pounced on a Panthers turnover and beat Luongo on a breakaway wrist shot.
It was Grabner's ninth goal of the season and his sixth short-handed score, which leads the NHL. For his career, Grabner has an astonishing 21 short-handed goals.
Barkov tied the score with just 14.6 seconds left in the first. He took a pass from Huberdeau and waited patiently before spotting his opening and firing the puck past Kuemper's right shoulder.
Florida took a 2-1 lead with 9:05 left in the second period. After Arizona was penalized for too many men on the ice, the Panthers swung the puck around until Huberdeau's pass found Hoffman alone inside the right circle. Hoffman's one-timer found the near side of the net, which was wide open.
Weegar, who has scored three of his four goals this month, put the Panthers up 3-1 as he scored with 14:51 left in the third. Huberdeau had the primary assist as he did on the first two Panthers goals.
Brad Richardson, who assisted on Grabner's goal, scored with 2:26 left in the third to cut Arizona's deficit to 3-2, but the Panthers hung on for the victory.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Arizona |
|
Florida |
|
Brad Richardson 2 |
Points |
Jonathan Huberdeau 3 |
|
Brad Richardson 1 |
Goals |
Aleksander Barkov 2 |
|
Brad Richardson 1 |
Assists |
Jonathan Huberdeau 3 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
Mike Hoffman 1 |
|
Michael Grabner 1 |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Darcy Kuemper .857 |
Save Percentage |
Roberto Luongo .941 |
|
Darcy Kuemper 18 |
Saves |
Roberto Luongo 32 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Arizona
|
34 |
2 |
0-2 |
2-3 |
6 |
26 |
| Florida
|
22 |
4 |
1-3 |
2-2 |
4 |
33 |
Upcoming Games
-
Florida will play their next game at home against Boston. The Panthers have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .405 after a loss.
-
Arizona will play their next game on the road against New Jersey. The Coyotes have a W/L % of .514 after a win and .459 after a loss.
For more information, contact us