Panthers Push Stars

     Noel Acciari compiled his second consecutive hat trick as the Florida Panthers downed the Dallas Stars 7-4 at BB&T Center on Friday night. The Panthers completed a franchise record nine-game home stand where they had a 5-4-0 record during that span.
     Keith Yandle of the Panthers played in his 831st consecutive game to pass Andrew Cogliano for fourth all-time in NHL history. Joe Pavelski of the Stars played in his 1,000th NHL game.
     Florida(17-12-5) made it 1-0 on the power play at 4:37 of the first period. Mike Hoffman centered the puck from the right circle and Evgenii Dadonov placed it across the crease. It was pushed slightly by Aleksander Barkov and then Jonathan Huberdeau lifted a forehand shot from the left of the crease past Ben Bishop for his 12th goal of the season.
     Dallas(20-13-4) evened it up 1-1 with 6:50 left in the first. Denis Gurianov passed the puck from the right corner to Corey Perry on the right goal line. Perry returned it to Gurianov in the low slot and he scored on a wrist shot by Sergei Bobrovsky.
     It became a 2-1 lead for the Panthers with 5:12 remaining. Anton Stralman picked up his third tally of the campaign when he fired a snap shot from the right point that went off the left skate of Gurianov and into the Dallas cage. Frank Vatrano and Barkov were credited with assists on the play.
     The Cats increased the gap to 3-1 just 1:21 into the second period. Noel Acciari tried a wraparound shot and the puck entered the crease area. Huberdeau tapped the puck to his right and Vincent Trocheck scored his fifth goal of the season.
     Florida expanded their lead to 4-1 at the 2:52 mark. Dominic Toninato connected a pass to Colton Sceviour in the left circle and he snapped a shot for his third goal this year.
     The momentum continued for the Cats to make it a four-game margin at 7:26. Huberdeau moved the puck from the end wall to Trochek in the left corner. He sent it to the left circle where Acciari pivoted and scored on a wrist shot.
     The same line scored again 32 seconds later. Huberdeau made an outlet pass from the high slot to Trocheck in the right circle. His cross-ice pass found Acciari for a one-time slap shot and his 10th tally of the year.
     The Panthers were shorthanded and awarded a penalty shot with 8:35 to go in the second period when Acciari was pulled down by John Klingberg. He got the natural hat trick and 11th goal of the season as he slipped the puck by Anton Khudobin on a forehand shot for a 7-1 lead. Acciari had a three goals in the Panthers last game on Monday night against the Ottawa Senators. It was the fastest natural hat trick in Panthers franchise history. He was able to tie Pavel Bure who had consecutive games of hat tricks for Florida back in 2001.
     The Stars finally stopped the bleeding on the man advantage with 3:22 left in the second and they trailed 7-2. Tyler Seguin the goal on assists from Esa Lindell and Roope Hintz.
     In the third period, Seguin scored his second goal of the contest and 10th of the season at the 7:03 mark. Pavelski got the primary assist on the play. Seguin now has 19 points in his last 18 games.
     Dallas cut the deficit to 7-4 with 6:58 remaining. Perry made a short pass in the left circle to Miro Heiskanen and he moved the puck across the slot area. Jamie Benn blasted a slap shot from the right circle for his eighth goal of the season.