Barkov helps Panthers roll over Leafs, 5-1

SUNRISE, FLA. — The way the Florida Panthers are playing, they might not even want an allstar break.

Simply put, they just keep rolling.

Aleksander Barkov — hours after signing a six-year contract extension — and Vincent Trocheck had power-play goals, Roberto Luongo made 22 saves and the Panthers tacked on one more win before the break by topping the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-1, in National Hockey League play Tuesday night.

Reilly Smith and Jussi Jokinen each had a goal and an assist for Florida. Brian Campbell had two assists and Alex Petrovic added the first goal of his career for the Panthers, who go into the break atop the Atlantic Division and firmly holding second place in the Eastern Conference.

“It’s a great break for everybody,” Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. “Not just for our team, but for every team in the National Hockey League.”

Nazem Kadri scored for Toronto, which has lost eight of its last nine games. James Reimer stopped 22 shots for the Maple Leafs.

The only thing that hasn’t been working of late for the Panthers was the power play — they were in a three-for-51 slide over the last five weeks. That is, until they went two for two in a four-minute span of the second period. Barkov’s 13th goal for the season tied the game at 3:49, then Trocheck’s 14th came at 7:40 and put Florida up for good. After Luongo made five saves in a span of just more than a minute to keep the Panthers on top, some breathing room for Florida came at 14:13 of the second when Jokinen connected for his ninth goal of the season.

For Florida, three goals just about always means two points — the Panthers are 20-0-1 this season when scoring at least three times.

Toronto’s goal came on one of Florida’s lone missteps of the night. Panthers defenceman Erik Gudbranson fell down while pursuing a play, allowing Kadri to skate in on Luongo.