Stars Come Back On Panthers

     The Florida Panthers were unable to hold a two-goal margin and lost to the Dallas Stars 4-2 at BB&T Center on Saturday night. The Panthers were attempting to win four of their first five games to begin the season for the first time since l995-96 when they captured the Eastern Conference championship. Roberto Luongo tied Grant Fuhr for ninth all-time among goalies with 868 games played.
     There was no scoring in the first period and a slew of goals in the second frame. Florida[3-2-O] put the puck in the net six seconds after their first power play finished. Jaromir Jagr poked it from the right corner to Jonathan Huberdeau near the wall. His cross-ice pass was smashed immediately by Aleksander Barkov in the left circle 59 seconds into the second period. Jagr tied Teemu Selanne for third all-time in NHL history with 588 power-play points on the play.
     The Panthers extended their lead 64 seconds later on a breakaway and increased their margin to 2-O. Reilly Smith was at center ice when he saw Brandon Pirri alone at the Stars blue line. Pirri dashed through on net and fired a wrist shot between the legs of Kari Lehtonen for the tally then he crashed into the end boards.
     Dallas[4-l-O] ended the shutout at 6:3l to pull within one goal 2-l. Patrick Sharp sent a lead pass from the neutral zone to Tyler Seguin at the Panthers blue line. He skated through the slot area and snapped a shot by Luongo for his first goal this year.
     The Stars tied the contest 2-2 just fifty seconds into the third period on a power play. Jason Spezza placed a pass from the right side to Seguin at the right-circle dot. He moved the puck across the ice to Jamie Benn who scored his fourth goal on the season. He also extended his goal streak in three games and point streak to five games.
     They took a 3-2 lead with 3:O2 remaining in the final period. John Klingberg slapped a shot from the right point with traffic in front. Seguin tipped in the rebound while he was on the edge of the blue paint for his second tally.
     Benn flicked in his second goal of the game from the Panthers blue line following a pass by Sharp at center ice to clinch the victory with l8.6 seconds left. Seguin collected his fourth point in the contest on that play.