Tuesday night hockey in Glendale featured two teams struggling down the stretch to make the playoffs.
The Florida Panthers managed to get the win, 2-1, over the Arizona Coyote’s and keep pace in the Eastern Conference race fr the wild card.
Sergei Bobrovsky got the win for the Panthers file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Sergei Bobrovsky made 37 saves as the Panthers remain two points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the third spot in the Atlantic Division.
“He’s a superstar goalie,” the Panthers’ Riley Stillman said. “He’s been huge for us, and it pumps us up, gives us adrenaline. We’ve let some games get away from us, so we wanted to play smart and hard and come away with two points.”
Mike Hoffman scored the game-winner on the power play in the third period.
“They had nothing going on there, and it was a 1-1 game, but sometimes it just takes a penalty,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. “We overplayed the guy in the corner (Jonathan Huberdeau), and Hoffman got a free shot, and Darcy had no chance.”
Brad Richardson scored a shorthanded goal to give the Coyotes a 1-0 lead in the opening frame.
“Giving up shorthanded goals, giving up those kind of goals, generally you don’t win,” Florida coach Joel Quenneville said. “But that was a good response, coming back and finding a way to get two points.”
Frank Vatrano tied the game for the Panthers.
“This was a huge win,” Stillman said. “It was a tight game, and we ended up with the power play giving us the (winning) goal. It’s just what we needed.”
[WATCH: All Panthers vs. Coyotes highlights]
Darcy Kuemper returned from injury and made 23 saves in the loss.
“He was solid,” Tocchet said. “When we needed him, he was there. But I didn’t think they had much (offense), to be honest with you.”
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