Hurricanes Eliminate Panthers

     The Florida Panthers were eliminated in the playoff race on Thursday night as they were shut out by the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 at BB&T Center. The Panthers will miss the NHL playoffs for the 12th time in the last 13 seasons and 16th time in 20 seasons. It was the first time in team history that the Cats were swept by the Canes in a season series.
     Carolina(32-32-9) put in their first goal at 9:09 of the first period. Hurricanes captain Eric Staal came in on the left side on a two-on-one breakaway and fed a cross-ice pass to Jiri Tlusty. He delayed then placed a wrist shot beyond the left glove of Roberto Luongo and into the net for a 1-0 lead.
     Former Panther Radek Dvorak collided with Luongo after he missed a shot on a breakaway and was given a five-minute charging penalty and a game misconduct at 12:48. Florida(27-39-8) was unable to get a shot on goal on the ensuing power play. Luongo, who made 11 saves, would leave the game after the first period and was replaced by former Hurricane Dan Ellis.
     In the second period, Tlusty scored his second goal of the game and 14th of the season at 2:30. Andrei Loktionov was on the right wing and sent a pass through the middle that was deflected twice by the Panthers. Tlusty hit a bouncing puck from the left of the crease by Ellis.
     The Hurricanes extended their lead to 3-0 just three minutes later as Jeff Skinner added his 28th goal of the season. Patrick Dwyer put a shot on goal from the left edge of the crease and got his own rebound. He skated behind the Panthers cage and passed to Skinner at the right of the crease for a one-time snap shot.
     Anton Khudobin recorded his first shutout this season and third career NHL shutout with 34 saves to improve his record to 16-12-0. Luongo dropped to 23-20-7 and Ellis made 18 saves in two periods. Both teams were scoreless on the power play as the Cats went 0-for-3 while the Canes were 0-for-1.