Panthers 6, Ducks 2
Aleksander Barkov and Dave Bolland scored 22 seconds apart in the second period at host Florida sent Anaheim to its season high-tying third straight defeat.
Defensemen Dmitry Kulikov and Aaron Ekblad each tallied to help stake the Panthers to a three-goal advantage, Nick Bjugstad added a power-play tally and Jimmy Hayes matched Bolland with a goal and an assist as Florida posted its second 6-2 rout of the Ducks this season. Jonathan Huberdeau collected three assists while blue-liners Brian Campbell and Erik Gudbranson each added a pair to back All-Star Roberto Luongo (31 saves).
Kyle Palmieri and Tim Jackman provided the goals for Anaheim, which has lost three in a row for the first time since Nov. 15-18. Ilya Bryzgalov allowed three goals on eight shots before John Gibson (15 saves) took over early in the second period.
After falling behind 3-0 for the second straight game, the Ducks got on the board when Palmieri buried a sharp-angle shot during a 5-on-3 at 7:23 of the second, but Barkov got behind the defense and snuck a backhander past Gibson and Bolland finished a 2-on-1 rush with a blast with 6:48 left in the session for a 5-1 lead. Jackman netted a fluke goal less than two minutes later, when his soft backhander from the neutral zone bounced past Luongo.
With Florida on the power play, Kulikov opened the scoring 5 1/2 minutes into the game with a one-timer from beyond the right faceoff circle before Bjustad beat Bryzgalov between the pads nearly seven minutes later. Ekblad extended the lead to 3-0 at 5:37 of the second, ripping a shot past Bryzgalov, while Hayes capped the scoring with a power-play tally in the third.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Panthers C Brandon Pirri (upper body), who scored six goals in his previous eight games, was injured on his first shift and did not return. ... The Ducks placed G Frederik Andersen (head/neck) on injured reserve Tuesday and recalled Gibson from Norfolk of the American Hockey League. ... Panthers captain Willie Mitchell (upper body) missed his third straight game while the Ducks were without D Hampus Lindholm (lower body) and RW Jakob Silfverberg (flu).