Panthers 3, Hurricanes 1
Shawn Matthias scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner with 3:19 to play, as the visiting Florida Panthers spoiled Kirk Muller's NHL head coaching debut with a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
Matthias added an empty-net tally and Tomas Fleischmann scored on the power play as Florida sent the Hurricanes to their fourth consecutive defeat.
Jose Theodore turned aside 26 shots to help the Panthers snap a modest two-game skid and win for just the fifth time in the last 31 games at Carolina.
Jeff Skinner scored the lone goal for the Hurricanes, who absorbed their 10th loss in 14 games one day after coach Paul Maurice was fired and replaced by Muller.
After being limited to season-low two shots in the opening period, the Panthers broke on top on Fleischmann's blast from the left point on the power play midway through the second.
Carolina needed just 64 seconds to respond when Skinner slipped his own rebound past Theodore at 11:49.
The Hurricanes, who lead the league in power-play chances but rank 29th in the league in converting them, went 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov left in the second period with an apparent foot injury and did not return.