Panthers lose Barkov but beat Jets
SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers, despite losing star center Aleksander Barkov to an injury, rallied to defeat the Winnipeg Jets 6-4 on Thursday night at the BB&T Center.
Barkov left the game in the second period due to an upper-body injury. He did not return, a major blow to a Panthers team already without top goalie Roberto Luongo.
With Barkov out, fourth-line left winger Micheal Haley became the improbable hero. He scored the tiebreaking goal on a deflection with 9:58 left in the third period as Florida (11-13-4) snapped a three-game losing streak.
It was just Haley's second goal of the season. He has seven goals in parts of eight NHL seasons.
Florida also got two goals from Vincent Trocheck and one each from Mark Pysyk, Aaron Ekblad and Denis Malgin. Trocheck's second goal was an empty-netter. Backup goalie James Reimer (35 saves) earned the win.
The Jets (17-8-4) got one goal and two assists from Patrik Laine as well as scores from Nikolaj Ehlers, Adam Lowry and Blake Wheeler.
However, Winnipeg went just 1-for-7 on the power play, and Florida killed off four consecutive penalties in the third period, including a hooking call against Mike Matheson with 4:02 remaining.
In addition, the Jets could not survive shaky goaltending from 22-year-old rookie Eric Comrie, who made 30 saves in just his second NHL start.
Florida opened the scoring with two goals within the first four minutes of the game. Pysyk beat Comrie stick-side with just 2:48 expired. Ekblad scored off his own rebound just 29 seconds later.
Winnipeg closed the first period with two goals within three minutes of each other, tying the score 2-2.
On Winnipeg's first goal, Ben Chiarot snapped a shot from the point, and the puck deflected into the net off of teammate Ehlers at 15:13. Winnipeg tied the score when Brandon Tanev sent a perfect cross-ice pass to Lowry, who beat Reimer with a one-timer at 17:43.
Wheeler's power-play goal with 4:46 expired in the second period gave Winnipeg its first lead of the night, 3-2. Wheeler scored after a perfect pass from Laine.
Florida ended the second-period scoring on Malgin's goal, which tied the gmae 3-3. Malgin was set up by Colton Sceviour's centering feed from behind the net.
The teams traded goals within the first two minutes of the third period -- Trocheck for Florida and Laine for Winnipeg to tie the score 4-4.
NOTES: Panthers G Roberto Luongo (right groin) likely will miss several weeks. The Panthers on Wednesday recalled G Harri Sateri to serve as James Reimer's backup. Sateri was recalled from their AHL affiliate in Springfield, Mass. ... Florida scratched D MacKenzie Weegar and LW Connor Brickley. ... Jets G Steve Mason is out with a concussion sustained on Nov. 25. Mason has struggled this season with a 3.45 GAA and a .904 save percentage. ... Winnipeg scratched C Marko Dano, D Tucker Poolman and C Shawn Matthias. ... This was a homecoming of sorts for ex-Panthers D Dmitry Kulikov, who is now in the Jets' rotation. ... Florida's three-game homestand ends on Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche. ... Winnipeg's three-game trip ends Saturday at the Tampa Bay Lightning.