The Florida Panthers made their visit to the Staples Center Saturday; it was clearly not the best time for the Los Angles Kings to be hosting them.
Roberto Luongo picked up win LA – file photo by Jack Lima
The panthers have been on a roll on their current road and Aleksander Barkov scored early in the final frame to send the Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Kings.
The Panthers improved to 4-0-0 on the roadie with one game to go.
Roberto Luongo made 33 saves for the win as the Panthers improved to 27-20-10.
“I thought once we took the lead the Kings put some pressure there in the second period and were able to tie it up,” Luongo said. “We had a really strong third period and we kept putting pressure on them and spent a lot of time in their zone.”
The Panthers were one of the first teams to jettison their head coach this season and Tow Rowe was not nearly as successful in turning things around as others.
But then again he did not have Jonathan Huberdeau until the recent hot streak.
Huberdeau and Jussi Jokinen each scored for Florida in the win.
“I think it was important to get the [first] goal in the third period,” Huberdeau said. “It was a really nice goal by Barkov. It’s a big win, I think, and we’re playing well right now.”
The LA goals came from Dwight King and Tanner Pearson.
WATCH: All Panthers vs. Kings highlights
Peter Budaj made 22 saves in taking the loss as the Kings dropped to 28-25-4 and are now two points back of the Calgary Flames who lost to the Vancouver Canucks in extra time.
“We chased the lead again,” Sutter sad. “Battled back, played hard, gave up a goal to start the third.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.