Trocheck nets pair of goals as Panthers crush Avalanche
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- The Florida Panthers special teams scored on both sides of the power play.
Vincent Trocheck had two goals and an assist to help Roberto Luongo win his 404th game and lift the Panthers to a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.
The Panthers recorded three power play goals and added a short-handed goal. The Panthers, who had allowed at least one power-play goal in the last five games, killed off all five penalties, including a 5-on-3 for 52 seconds in the second.
According to information to information provided to the Panthers from the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time in franchise history that the Panthers scored at least four goals in a game with all of them counting as either power-play or short-handed goals.
Brian Campbell added a goal and two assists and Reilly Smith also had a goal and an assist. Luongo made 31 saves to pass Grant Fuhr for sole possession of ninth all-time on the wins list.
The Panthers won their second straight game.
"It's fun when you have a night like that and get three goals and move the puck like that," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. "We got rewarded for it."
Gabriel Landeskog scored a goal and Reto Berra stopped 24 shots for the Avalanche, who have lost four straight games.
Trocheck's second power-play goal at 2:56 of the third extended the Panthers lead to 2-0. Trocheck took a pass from Dmitry Kulikov in the left circle and his one-timer went off the stick of Berra and inside the post.
"(Special teams) are huge, it's a big part of the game now. It gets the momentum going," Trocheck said.
Smith stretched the Panthers lead to 3-0 on the power-play with 10:11 left in the third. Smith's shot from the left circle got past Berra on the stick side.
"I think we just took what they gave us," Smith said. "They didn't pressure us as much as we thought they would, and it seemed to open up a couple of lanes and we were able to put pucks on the net and find holes."
Campbell's short-handed goal at 14:02 of the third made the score 4-0.
"They moved the puck well and executed better than us on their power play," Roy said. "The players on the power play know it's not (good) enough for us to win hockey games. They have to be better."
Landeskog scored with 56.7 seconds left to deny Luongo the shutout.
The Avalanche began a stretch of 18 of the next 24 games on the road.
"It's not the way we want to start it," Roy said.
Trocheck gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead on his first power-play goal at 19:40 of the first. Trocheck skated in from the Colorado zone and his wrist shot from the right circle got inside the far post on Berra's stick side.
"It was a power-play breakout that we've worked on," Trocheck said. "They kind of bit on it and cheated. So I took the lane to the net and took the opportunity."
Jaromir Jagr left the game with about two minutes left in the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return. The 43-year-old Jagr is the Panthers leading scorer with six goals and 10 points.
"I think it's a groin or hip - something minor. Hopefully, minor," Gallant said.
NOTES: Avalanche F Jarome Iginla played in his 1,400th NHL game, the 35th player in NHL history to reach that milestone. ... D Tyson Barrie returned after serving a three-game suspension for a hit on Anaheim's Simon Despres in a 3-0 win on Oct. 16. ... Panthers C Aleksander Barkov will not need surgery to repair his broken right hand, and is expected to miss two to four months.
