Kelowna Rockets to take on Vancouver Giants at home
SUNRISE, Fla. — Harri Sateri is making the most of his opportunity in net for the Florida Panthers.
Sateri made 26 saves for his fourth consecutive win while filling in for injured goalie James Reimer, and the Panthers beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Tuesday night.
The 28-year-old Sateri made his NHL debut on Jan. 20 and is quickly making his mark.
“My confidence is going up all the time when you get those wins and good games,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been pretty consistent.”
This past Monday, Sateri was named the NHL’s second star of the week.
“This is a dream. I’ve been working for this all my life and now I’m here and I’m winning. It’s just awesome,” he said.
Sateri’s play could make the decision on who to start when Reimer returns a difficult one.
“It’s his net right now. He’s playing fantastic and the team’s got a lot of trust in him,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. “That’s going to be a tough decision the coaches will have to make, but those are great decisions when you have that kind of depth.”
Aleksander Barkov scored twice for Florida, including the go-ahead goal late in the second period. Jamie McGinn also scored for the Panthers.
Markus Granlund scored for the Canucks, and Jacob Markstrom stopped 37 shots.
Barkov gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead with 3:52 left in the second. He corralled a loose puck in the high slot, skated in and sent a backhand off Markstrom’s pad and into the net.
“Great pass by (Mark Pysyk) and I just happened to (have a) breakaway,” Barkov said. “I got lucky. I put it in.” Markstrom tried to be patient on the play. “I waited as long as I could so he wouldn’t put it on my forehand and make me look stupid,” the goalie said. “I thought I had it good, but it trickled through my pad and glove.”
Barkov added an empty-net goal with 41.5 seconds left to make it 3-1.
Barkov has 14 points in his last 13 games and is tied for the team lead with Jonathan Huberdeau and Vincent Trocheck at 18 goals.
“We’re doing the little things pretty well right now,” Barkov said. “Our goalie has been standing on his head all the time and giving us a chance to win.”
The Canucks tied it 1-1 on a shorthanded goal by Granlund, who grabbed a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated in and put the puck between Sateri’s pads with 8:20 left in the second.
“I was kind of surprised that I was all by myself and I was able to take it in,” said Granlund.
McGinn put the Panthers ahead 1-0 on his power-play goal with 3:32 left in the first. McGinn pushed the puck from the right side to the centre of the crease and it bounced off the blade of Vancouver defenceman Chris Tanev and into the net.
“We had a lot of guys who were half a step behind,” Vancouver coach Travis Green said. “We weren’t on our toes and we weren’t playing quick enough.”
NOTES: Canucks C Sam Gagner was back in the lineup after missing one game with an upper-body injury . . . . Vancouver next visits the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, while the Panthers host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday . . . . Reimer returned to practice Monday for the first time since injuring his groin on Jan. 23 in Dallas. His return is tentatively slated for Friday against L.A., Boughner said.
FLAMES 3, BLACKHAWKS 2
CHICAGO — Michael Stone scored with 3:30 left and the Calgary Flames beat the Chicago Blackhawks for the second straight game, 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Dougie Hamilton and Sean Monahan also scored for Calgary, and Mike Smith made 34 saves in the opener of a six-game trip. The Flames previously topped Chicago 4-3 on Saturday night thanks to Monahan’s overtime goal in Calgary.
Stone connected on a long slap shot from the right point. It looked as if Johnny Gaudreau might have tipped it by Jeff Glass, but Stone was credited with his third goal of the season.
The Blackhawks challenged the play, arguing Gaudreau’s stick was above the crossbar. But the officials ruled he didn’t touch the puck.
Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane scored for last-place Chicago, which has dropped three in a row. Glass finished with 20 stops.
JETS 4, COYOTES 3
WINNIPEG — Dustin Byfuglien scored and added an assist as Winnipeg edged the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 on Tuesday to become the second NHL team to reach 20 home wins this season.
Dmitry Kulikov had the eventual winner in the second period for the Jets (32-13-9), who have secured points in 10 straight games at Bell MTS Place, going 9-0-1 over that span and improving to 20-3-2 at home this season.
Jack Roslovic and Nic Petan also scored for Winnipeg, while Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves to capture his 28th win of the season (28-6-8).