Panthers Fire On Flames

     The Florida Panthers began a stretch of seven of their next eight games at home with a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames at BB&T Center on Tuesday night. The Cats snapped a five-game winless streak in the process. The loss ended a season-long two-game win streak for the Flames.
     Florida(6-6-3) scored on their second power play of the contest at 5:16 of the first period. Jussi Jokinen fired the puck on net from the left wing and Vincent Trocheck swept in and popped in the rebound over Karri Ramo for his sixth goal of the season.
     Calgary(5-10-1) answered quickly at 7:13 to tie the game l-l. Joe Colborne raced in on the right side and attempted a snap shot which was blocked by Aaron Ekblad. David Jones followed up on the bounce and scored on a slapshot from the high slot against Roberto Luongo.
     The Panthers regained the lead at l5:43 of the first. Jokinen won the faceoff in the left circle and it was passed back to Alex Petrovic at the left point. His shot was saved and Reilly Smith scored on a backhand shot in the low slot for his fifth tally this year.
     The Cats made it a two-goal margin at 3:53 of the second period. Jonathan Huberdeau cycled the puck from the end wall to Jaromir Jagr at the right-circle dot. He sent a cross-ice pass to Ekblad in the left circle and he finished it off with a one-time shot into a half-empty net.
     The Flames fought back to close the deficit at 6:35. Matt Stajan connected a lead pass to Jones for a one-on-one breakaway. He skated in and released a wrist shot from the slot area for his second goal of the game.
     Calgary would score on their first power-play attempt with 1:28 left in the second. T.J. Brodie lifted a slapshot from the right point which was stopped. Jiri Hudler tried to whack the puck in from the crease then Sean Monahan followed in with a goal.
     In the third period, Jagr got the game-winning goal at 8:11 for his seventh of the season and 729th of his NHL career. Nick Bjugstad passed the puck from high in the zone to Jagr who slipped it off the right post and into the Flames net. Jagr compiled his 130th career game-winning goal which is first all-time in NHL history.