Panthers Roar Into First Place, NHL News

The Florida Panthers broke another lengthy skid and roared into first place with an impressive victory.

Roberto Luongo made 34 saves, and Jussi Jokinen and Vincent Trocheck each scored a goal and added an assist to put the Panthers atop the Atlantic Division with a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

"Tonight was a huge win coming in here," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said, "and I don't think we've won in here too often."

Nope. They haven't.

Reilly Smith and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored for Florida, which won for the first time in 10 visits to Boston and passed idle Tampa Bay in the standings. Earlier this season, the Panthers ended a 10-game skid in Washington, a six-game losing streak in Columbus and a nine-game winless run in Nashville.

Luongo ended a rough stretch of his own, winning for the first time in eight starts in Boston dating to his three Stanley Cup losses for Vancouver in the 2011 finals.

Meanwhile, after feeling burned by instant replay in consecutive games and five straight losses, Boston is searching for answers.

Thursday, March 24 Scoreboard

Florida 4, Boston 1

New Jersey 3, Pittsburgh 0

Carolina 3, Columbus 2

Toronto 6, Anaheim 5 (OT)

Detroit 4, Montreal 3

Nashville 3, Vancouver 2 (SO)

Minnesota 6, Calgary 2

Winnipeg 4, Los Angeles 1

Philadelphia 4, Colorado 2

Arizona 3, Dallas 1

Edmonton 6, San Jose 3

Friday, March 25 Schedule (All Times Central)

Washington at New Jersey, 6 p.m.

NY Islanders at Tampa Bay, 6:30 p.m.

Vancouver at St. Louis, 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 26 Schedule (All Times Central)

Winnipeg at Buffalo, noon

Pittsburgh at Detroit, 1 p.m.

Minnesota at Colorado, 2 p.m.

Dallas at San Jose, 3 p.m.

Boston at Toronto, 6 p.m.

NY Rangers at Montreal, 6 p.m.

Anaheim at Ottawa, 6 p.m.

Florida at Tampa Bay, 6 p.m.

St. Louis at Washington, 6 p.m.

NY Islanders at Carolina, 6 p.m.

Columbus at Nashville, 7 p.m.

Chicago at Calgary, 9 p.m.

Philadelphia at Arizona, 9 p.m.

Edmonton at Los Angeles, 9 p.m.

Sunday, March 27 Schedule (All Times Central)

New Jersey at Carolina, 4 p.m.

Pittsburgh at NY Rangers, 6:30 p.m.

Chicago at Vancouver, 7 p.m.