Kings 3, Panthers 1
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Center Tyler Toffoli, defenseman Alec Martinez and right winger Marian Gaborik scored goals as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Monday night at the BB&T Center.
Left winger Milan Lucic, center Jeff Carter, center Jordan Nolan, left winger Kyle Clifford and center Anze Kopitar each had an assist for the Kings (13-8-0).
Center Aleksander Barkov scored for the Panthers (8-9-4). Right winger Jaromir Jagr and left winger Jonathan Huberdeau each had an assist for Florida.
Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick made 31 saves. Florida's Roberto Luongo had 21 stops in place of goaltender Al Montoya, who made seven saves before leaving after an injury in the first period.
Quick was returning to the crease after being removed Sunday at the end of the second period in the Kings' 4-3 loss to Carolina in Raleigh. He allowed four goals on 21 shots by the Hurricanes and was replaced by Jhonas Enroth.
Quick held Florida scoreless in the first period as the Panthers could muster few shots early on -- managing just four overall in the period -- before Toffoli cashed in on hard work by Lucic along the boards behind Montoya.
Lucic slipped the puck to Toffoli for a wrist shot from the right circle, which beat Montoya glove side at 7:47.
The goal was a team-high 11th for Toffoli, who entered the game tied for ninth in the NHL in goals.
Florida responded on the power play at 5:07 of the second period when Barkov snapped a shot from the right circle that found its way between Quick's right pad and blocker to tie the score 1-1. It gave Barkov goals in three consecutive games and was his sixth in his last nine games.
Martinez put Los Angeles back in front later in the period when he gathered in a fortunate bounce to the right of Luongo.
Clifford's shot from the top of the right circle struck Nolan and caromed to Martinez, who backhanded the puck by Luongo for his third goal of the season at 17:16.
Gaborik extended the lead to 3-1 at 1:05 of the third when he took an outlet pass from Kopitar and beat Luongo one-on-one for his third goal of the season.
The first period was a physical one that took its toll on Florida. Huberdeau was injured 39 seconds into the game and fell to the ice after taking a stick from Kopitar, halting play. However, the 2012 Calder Trophy winner soon returned.
The news wasn't as good for Montoya, who was making his first start since a 5-2 loss in San Jose on Nov. 5.
Dustin Brown's shot on a two-on-one from the left circle bounced off Montoya and fell into the crease. A diving Nick Shore struck Montoya in the head with his shoulder as the netminder was sprawling to make the save at 8:38.
Montoya lay motionless on the ice momentarily and eventually left with assistance from a trainer and was replaced by Luongo. The team announced Montoya was questionable to return with an upper-body injury.
The Kings challenged the call on the ice, which was no-goal because of Shore's contact with Montoya before the puck slid across the line. The subsequent review upheld the call.
NOTES: Los Angeles scratched C Jordan Weal and D Derek Forbort. ... Kings RW Marian Gaborik, 33, played in his 900th NHL game. ... RW Dustin Brown's successful penalty shot on Sunday against Carolina's Cam Ward put him 2-for-6 in his career. ... C Anze Kopitar's two goals against Carolina gave him his first multipoint game this season. ... Florida scratched C Dave Bolland, LW Garrett Wilson and D Dmitry Kulikov (knee). ... G Al Montoya's start in goal ended a streak of seven consecutive starts for Roberto Luongo, who posted a 3-3-1 record and tied Glenn Hall for eighth in all-time NHL wins with 407. The first game in Luongo's streak was a 4-1 loss in Los Angeles on Nov. 7.