Panthers slip past Leafs in shootout
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Aleksander Barkov and Nick Bjugstad scored in a shootout as the Florida Panthers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Wednesday night at the BB&T Center.
Bjugstad also scored in regulation, his fifth of the season.
Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo, fourth on the NHL career win list, made 41 saves to help Florida (8-11-2) snap a two-game losing streak. Luongo has won four of his past five games, allowing just eight goals during that span.
The Leafs, who had been off to a great start this season, lost their second game in a row.
Toronto (14-8-1) started the week with the NHL's second-ranked offense (3.71 goals per game) but has scored just two goals during that span. And some of the Leafs' top stars have been slumping, most notably William Nylander, who has just one goal in his past 15 games.
At least the Leafs got great goaltending on Wednesday as Frederik Andersen stopped 41 shots. And, for a long stretch, it looked as if neither goalie would get beaten all night.
In fact, it took more than 35 minutes of hockey before Florida finally broke up a scoreless tie on Bjugstad's goal with 4:39 left in the second period. Operating behind Toronto's net, Bjugstad jammed the puck off the skates of Toronto defenseman Connor Carrick, and the ricochet got past Andersen.
The assists went to Vincent Trocheck and Henrik Haapala. For Haapala, it was his first career NHL point.
The Maple Leafs tied the game at 13:58 of the third period on Nazem Kadri's 11th goal of the season. Patrick Marleau and Connor Brown were credited with assists.
NOTES: Florida recalled LW Henrik Haapala, 23, from Springfield of the AHL and played him on its second line with C Vincent Trocheck and Nick Bjugstad. Haapala, a native of Finland, led his country's pro league in points last season. ... Florida came off a 1-2-0 California trip. ... RW Nikita Soshnikov, 24, made just his second appearance with Toronto this season, playing on the fourth line. That forced C Dominic Moore to the bench and moved LW Patrick Marleau to center. Moore, 37, has three goals and three assists in 15 games. ... In addition to Moore, Toronto scratched D Roman Polak and LW Josh Leivo. ... Florida scratched D Alex Petrovic and LW Dryden Hunt. ... Injured Panthers are C Derek MacKenzie (lower body) and RW Radim Vrbata (face).