In Anaheim, Spencer Knight made 17 saves and earned his first career NHL shutout for the Florida Panthers in a 3-0 win over the Ducks on Friday night.
“It’s nice to get, I guess, but at the same time, I’m just glad to win,” Knight said of his first shutout in his 22nd NHL start. “There’s so many times where I’ve had great games and given up five goals.”
Jonathan Huberdeau hit for a double for the Panthers.
“I saw a team that’s getting ready to challenge for the Stanley Cup, and one that’s trying to become that,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “Obviously, there’s a wide gap right now.”
Florida improved to 42-14-6.
“We knew we had to come back harder,” Huberdeau said. “I thought in Vegas we were a little bit slow and didn’t play our game.”
The Ducks dropped to 27-26-11.
“We knew they had a good power play and, obviously, they scored one,” Anaheim’s Nicolas Deslauriers said. “We shot ourselves in the foot again.”
Joe Thornton scored in the middle frame to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead.
Huberdeau scored both of his goals in the opening period.
John Gibson made 39 saves in the Anaheim loss.
“With where we’re at right now, everybody in our lineup has to be playing at 100 percent, especially against a team like that,” Eakins said. “This is a massive, massive challenge, especially when you’re playing arguably the best team in the League.”
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