Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Avs rout gimpy Panthers
SUNRISE — Hours before the Florida Panthers’s 7-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night, two figures populated the ice at the BB&T Center. Aleksander Barkov, in a red practice jersey, and Evgenii Dadonov, in a yellow noncontact jersey, slapped onetimers and glided through the neutral zone.
The two top-line forwards were key missing parts for Florida, joining goaltender Roberto Luongo as spectators because of injuries.
Without the star Barkov or the dynamic Dadonov, the Panthers needed secondary scoring against Colorado. It found some — but not enough. And without the starter Luongo, the Panthers needed James Reimer to play like a No. 1 goalie. They didn’t get enough of that, either.
Aaron Ekblad and Denis Malgin each scored for the third consecutive game, but Jonathan Huberdeau was the only other teammate to tally as Florida lost the final game of a three-game homestand, ending a threegame point streak.
For the eighth time this season, Reimer allowed at least four goals. The highscoring affair set up a bizarre end of the game when Reimer was pulled for an extra attacker with 6:07 left and the Panthers down three goals.
Florida struck once with the extra attacker. Colorado scored two emptynet goals.
A win Saturday would have marked the best three-game stretch of the season for Florida. The Panthers have not yet won three straight games this season. Beating the Avalanche would have given the Panthers five points in three games as they attempt to climb the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference standings.
The Panthers now hit the road for five games, beginning with a visit to Detroit on Monday night.
Avalanche forward Alexander Kerfoot scored the go-ahead goal with 7:53 remaining in the second period, with Tyson Barrie’s shot from the blue line grazing Kerfoot. The puck whizzed past Panthers goalie James Reimer’s right shoulder, and Colorado wouldn’t relinquish the lead.
Florida watched a second-period lead turn into a deficit in only 41 seconds. They then witnessed Colorado score twice more in less than two minutes in the third period.
Behind goals from Ekblad and Malgin, the Panthers led 2-1 less than 25 minutes into the game. Nathan MacKinnon undressed the Florida defense to tie the game at 2 with 8:34 left in the second period. MacKinnon sped through the neutral zone and evaded Alexander Petrovic before going around Mike Matheson. He finished the highlight by flipping a puck past Reimer.
Kerfoot’s deflection came less than a minute later to regain the lead for Colorado.
Saturday was Reimer’s second game since replacing Luongo (lower-body injury expected to keep him out weeks) in net. On Thursday night, Reimer survived an offensive showdown with the Winnipeg Jets. On Saturday, the Avalanche tested Reimer early.
Colorado had 14 shots on goal in the first period. Seven came on the power play. Reimer gave up a rebound that led to Mikko Rantanen’s game-opening goal, but was otherwise solid. He stopped a pair of prime Colorado power-play chances, including one that was deflected right in front of the net.
Ekblad’s goal with 2.6 seconds remaining in the first salvaged an otherwise forgettable period for Florida. Monday at Red Wings, 7:30, FSF; Tuesday at Blackhawks, 8:30, FSF; Thursday at Avalanche, 9, FSF But it was Huberdeau who opened eyes on the goal.
As Huberdeau skated down the left side into Colorado’s zone, he swiveled his head to the right. He searched for a Panther to pass to. Malgin skated by. Huberdeau declined. Trocheck skated by. Huberdeau held. Then Ekblad sped into the zone at the right circle. Huberdeau fed him a cross-ice pass and Ekblad beat the clock.
Ekblad became the third Panthers defenseman to ever score in three straight games and the first in more than six years. For Ekblad, the scoring outburst was a long time coming. He was goalless in his previous 15 games, misfiring on 43 shots on goal. Counting Saturday, Ekblad has scored on three of his last 13 shots on goal.
He also ran into some bad luck during his drought. Ekblad entered Saturday with three shots that hit the post, the most on the team.