SUNRISE, Fla – Jaromir Jagr picked up his seventh goal of the year midway through the third period to lift the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames.
“Well-timed,” Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. “He had a real nice assist and a nice goal and that’s what we need from our guys. It wasn’t a perfect game, but it was a game we fought for and a game we really needed.”
Aaron Ekblad goal – image Ken DeNardo
Jagr caught the Flames’ defense standing around.
“It’s a game of mistakes,” Flames coach Bob Hartley said of the winning goal. “[The puck] got to the wrong guy. He can certainly be a difference-maker and that’s what he was tonight.”
The Panthers also got goals from Vincent Trocheck, Reilly Smith and Aaron Ekblad
While the win was welcome, the Panthers held a player-only meeting after the match.
“We feel that we didn’t play our best hockey,” goalie Roberto Luongo said. “Fortunately, we didn’t pay for it tonight. But under different circumstances, we probably don’t win this game. That’s the sign of a good team. You can’t be satisfied with a win; you want to be satisfied with the process. We made some mistakes, but we also scored some big goals. We’re happy with the win, no doubt, but at the same time we realize that we need to be better.”
David Jones scored twice and Sean Monahan added a goal for the Flames.
“It certainly wasn’t our best defensive game,” Jones said. “We turned a lot of pucks over tonight. At some point it was bad bounces on the boards, but overall they did a better job in those areas of creating chances through turnovers. I don’t know if it was a step back, but it certainly wasn’t our best game.”
Panthers players may not have been happy with their effort but their defensive play in the third kept them in the game.
Physical play dominated Tuesday night – image by Ken DeNardo
“We had chances in the third that we just couldn’t finish off,” Hartley said. “We had some great looks. They had a chance and got the winning goal out of it. We had everything set to get a big road win but didn’t capitalize on our chances. They did on theirs.”
What Florida needs to do now is string a number of wins together and not lose contact with divisional leaders.
“We won; that’s a good thing,” Jagr said. “We feel like we didn’t play our best. We have those seven home games, we have to make sure we play our best hockey and get some wins together. A win is good, but everybody felt like we should play a little better.”
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