Panthers 3, Hurricanes 2 (SO)
PANTHERS 3, HURRICANES 2 (SO): Newcomer Wojtek Wolski tied the contest with 1:47 left in regulation and Stephen Weiss converted the shootout winner as Florida snapped a four-game losing streak with a win at Carolina on Saturday.
Mikael Samuelsson also converted in the shootout for the Panthers, who pulled into a tie with Winnipeg for the Southeast Division lead at 68 points.
Wolski, who was acquired from the New York Rangers in a trade earlier in the day, tied the game 2-2 on a screen shot for his first goal of the season.
Tomas Fleischmann had scored his 20th off a cross-ice feed from Kris Versteeg with 6:02 remaining in the game to pull the Panthers within a goal.
Justin Peters, who was subbing for injured starter Cam Ward, made 30 of his 42 saves in the first two periods for Carolina.
Florida had the first 11 shots on goal of the game, but fell behind 1-0 after one period.
Rookie defenseman Justin Faulk scored his seventh goal, taking a pass from captain Eric Staal and hammering a shot from the high slot past Panthers’ goalie Jose Theodore at 18:01.
Jussi Jokinen made it 2-0 with his ninth goal at 17:32 of the second period. He was left alone in the slot to one-time a nifty Jeff Skinner pass.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Florida has won all three games against Carolina this season. ... Staal has 13 points during an eight-game point streak. ... Carolina forward Patrick Dwyer left the game with a lower-body injury in the first period and did not return.