SUNRISE, Fla. _ It was reunion night at the BB&T Center Saturday, but it was the forming of a new union that contributed to the Florida Panthers' much-needed 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.
Panthers fans welcomed back rugged defenseman Erik Gudbranson with a warm ovation for his five seasons in Florida. In the Canucks' net filling in for injured starter Ryan Miller was Jacob Markstrom, the 6-foot-6 Swede, who for five years was projected to be the Panthers long-term starter.
Old friend Jack Skille, coming off a two-goal game in Tampa, was plugging away like he did here for parts of three seasons (2010-13) and even scored a sweet goal in the third to spoil Roberto Luongo's shutout. Vancouver forward Jayson Megna, a Fort Lauderdale native, had a huge cheering section in the packed arena, including Cooper City High athletic director Paul Megna, his uncle.
But it was coach Tom Rowe's brainchild of promoting Seth Griffith to the top line of Jaromir Jagr and Aleksander Barkov, their fifth new linemate this season, in an effort to fill the skates of the sidelined Jonathan Huberdeau and create some long-lost offense that helped end Florida's four-game losing streak (0-2-2) before embarking on a three-game trip.
The new trio was on the ice for two goals and were buzzing Markstrom all night, but despite trailing 3-0 in the third, the Canucks (12-14-2) made the Panthers sweat with two goals in a span of 3:39. After Skill scored, Daniel Sedin redirected a power-play goal past Luongo to make it a one-goal affair at 11:45 of the third.
It took a great move and empty-net goal by Vincent Trocheck with 47.1 seconds left to secure Florida's first win in regulation over the last 11 games (4-3-4) or since a 4-1 victory over the Senators on Nov. 19. Recently installed coach Tom Rowe improved to 2-2-3 since taking the reins from Gerard Gallant. Trocheck snapped a 17-game goal drought.
Luongo made 35 saves for his 446th victory, to move him one from tying Terry Sawchuk for fifth place all-time.
At 2:22 of the first period, Griffith circled behind Markstrom before spoon-feeding Barkov just outside the crease for a one-timer and quick 1-0 lead. Barkov notched his sixth goal of the season and ninth point (4-5) in his past nine games.
Panthers rookie forward Paul Thompson jumped on the ice after serving a penalty just in time to swipe at a rebound of Colton Sceviour's shot. The puck bounced out to a hard-charging Derek MacKenzie, who swatted it in before crashing into the net at 9:35 or 32 seconds after the penalty expired. It was the captain's third goal, Thompson's first NHL point, and gave the Panthers a 2-zip lead after two.
The top-line trio was on the ice for a huge insurance goal just 65 seconds into the third period when Griffith started a rush. that went from Barkov to Jagr for a shot that defenseman Aaron Ekblad knocked in for his seventh. It was Jagr's 1,883rd career point and he needs five more to pass Mark Messier for second-place all-time.
