Luongo Gets 400th Win As Panthers Prevail

     Roberto Luongo compiled his 400th career NHL victory and Jaromir Jagr moved into a tie for fourth all-time in NHL points as the Florida Panthers pounded the Carolina Hurricanes 6-1 on Thursday night at BB&T Center. The Panthers, who have won five of their last six home contests, remained six points behind the Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Brian Campbell played in his 300th consecutive regular season NHL game.
     Following the initial eight minutes of non-stop hockey, Florida(36-27-15) scored with just 49.4 left in the first period on a set play to get ahead 1-0. Vincent Trocheck won the faceoff in the left circle, Jimmy Hayes touched it to Willie Mitchell and he fired a slapshot from the top left circle that went under the right arm of Anton Khudobin.
     The Panthers extended their margin to 2-0 at 5:01 of the second period. Jagr carried the puck through the right circle until he was checked and Brandon Pirri put in a turnaround shot from the low right circle. Pirri scored for the ninth time in 11 games and the 19th time in his last 26 games.
     Jagr collected his 16th goal of the season with 6:59 remaining in the second. He tied Ron Francis for fourth place all-time in NHL history with his 1,798th point on the play. Aleksander Barkov skated with the puck behind the Canes cage and centered it to Jagr in the low slot for the one-time shot.
     Carolina(28-38-11)trailed by four goals as the Cats scored again at 16:27. Jonathan Huberdeau handed a pass to Barkov in the neutral zone and he skated into the Hurricanes zone. The first shot by Barkov from the right face-off dot was saved, however he backhanded the second shot in for his 15th goal.
     In the third period, the Cats made it a five-goal gap at 6:07. Tomas Kopecky connected with Trocheck with a cross-ice pass in the neutral zone. Trocheck skated by the Hurricanes blue line and scored on a wrist shot from the high slot.
     Florida moved it up to a 6-0 just 38 seconds later as they continued to dominate. Trocheck left the puck for Jimmy Hayes in the left circle and he followed with a shot. After a high rebound on a blocker save by Khudobin, Trocheck brought it down and ripped in a shot from the low slot for his second tally of the game.
     Luongo fell short of the shutout with 1:19 to go as Carolina scored on their second power-play attempt. Justin Faulk blasted a slapshot from the top of the zone which Luongo saved, but Chris Terry put in the rebound from the high crease.