Barkov, Luongo help Panthers win fourth straight
LOS ANGELES -- Aleksander Barkov scored the decisive goal in the third period and Roberto Luongo made 34 saves as the Florida Panthers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Saturday.
Florida (27-20-10) won its fourth straight game and seven of its last eight to climb into third place in the Atlantic Division. Jonathan Huberdeau and Jussi Jokinen added goals as the Panthers avenged a 6-3 loss on Feb. 9 to split the season series.
Los Angeles (28-25-4) lost its second straight game after returning from week off. Tanner Pearson and Dwight King registered goals. Peter Budaj stopped 22 Florida shots.
The Panthers regained the lead at 3-2 on Barkov's 14th goal of the season 15 seconds into the third period. Barkov fended off Los Angeles' Jeff Carter on a solo rush and slid a backhand shot under Budaj's right pad with Jaromir Jagr and Aaron Ekblad registering assists.
Los Angeles tied the game 2-2 on Tanner Pearson's 19th goal of the season at 11:56 of the middle frame. Pearson took a feed from Carter, turned Florida defenseman Jason Demers to create space and beat Luongo with a backhander as Tyler Toffoli drew the additional assist.
The Kings narrowed the lead to 2-1 on King's eighth goal of the season at 5:39 of the second period. King converted a rebound off a goalmouth scramble with Trevor Lewis and Nick Shore getting assists.
The goal was upheld after a Panthers challenge for goaltender interference, claiming Shore impeded Luongo from making a play on the puck.
Florida extended to a 2-0 on Jokinen's ninth goal of the season at 1:14 of the second period. Jokinen was left alone in the slot and took a feed from Reilly Smith to wire a wrist shot from 30 feet past Budaj with Alex Petrovic earning the secondary assist.
The Panthers opened the scoring on Huberdeau's goal at 15:05 of the first period. During a delayed penalty call on Los Angeles' Marian Gaborik, Huberdeau finished an odd man rush by beating Budaj with a wrist shot off a back pass from Barkov with Vincent Trocheck drawing the secondary assist.
Huberdeau has four goals and four assists in six games since returning from an Achilles injury.
NOTES: Florida did not dress D Jakub Kindl and C Michael Sgarbossa. ... The Panthers conclude their five game road trip Monday in St. Louis. They start a stretch of seven home games in eight contests Wednesday against Edmonton. ... Jaromir Jagr, the 45-year-old ageless wonder, is fourth in scoring on the Panthers (11 goals, 23 assists). His assist Saturday gives him 1,902 career points, trailing only Wayne Gretzky (2,857). ... Los Angeles scratched C Nic Dowd and D Kevin Gravel. ... Darryl Sutter coached his 400th game behind the Kings bench. ... Los Angeles RW Tyler Toffoli is struggling since returning from a knee injury that sidelined him for 20 games. The Kings leading goal scorer last season potted only one goal in his last five games and registered only nine goals in 37 contests this season, far off the pace of the career-high 31 from 2015-16.