Panik Scores To Guide Blackhawks Over Florida

By ESPN

Richard Panik raised his stick in the air with his left hand as he skated away from a defeated Roberto Luongo.

At long last, his slump was over.

Panik scored in regulation and then had the deciding goal in a shootout, helping the Chicago Blackhawks beat Florida 2-1 on Tuesday night in the Panthers' first game since Tom Rowe took over as interim coach.

Artemi Panarin also scored in the tiebreaker and Corey Crawford matched a season high with 38 saves in Chicago's first home game in 16 days. The Blackhawks went 3-3-1 on their annual circus trip.

"That was a long trip. We were excited to come back home," Crawford said.

Panarin beat Luongo with a slick backhand in the second round. After Aleksander Barkov was stopped by Crawford at the other end, Panik converted his chance with a well-placed wrist shot past Luongo on the glove side.

"I'm really grateful for Corey being behind us," Panarin said through a translator. "If it weren't for him, the last couple games would have turned out differently. We're lucky to have him."

Florida (11-10-2) returned to the ice for the first time since coach Gerard Gallant was fired after a 3-2 loss at Carolina on Sunday night. Jaromir Jagr scored in the third period and Luongo made 32 saves, but the Panthers lost for the third time in four games.

"We got back to getting pucks to the net, getting 39 shots against a heck of a hockey club," said Rowe, who was serving as Florida's general manager at the time of the coaching change. "So a lot of positives and a lot to build on after tonight."

Chicago (15-6-3) played without captain Jonathan Toews, who missed his third consecutive game with an upper-body injury. Fellow center Artem Anisimov left in the third after teammate Duncan Keith's shot went off the inside of his lower right leg.

Tuesday, November 29 Scoreboard

New York Rangers 3, Carolina 2

Columbus 5, Tampa Bay 1

Philadelphia 3, Boston 2 (SO)

Buffalo 5, Ottawa 4

Detroit 3, Dallas 1

Winnipeg 3, New Jersey 2

Chicago 2, Florida 1 (SO)

Nashville 5, Colorado 3

Toronto 4, Edmonton 2

Vancouver 5, Minnesota 4

Anaheim 2, Montreal 1

San Jose 2, Arizona 1 (OT)

Wednesday, November 30 Schedule (All Times Central)

Pittsburgh at New York Islanders, 7 p.m.

Toronto at Calgary, 7:30 p.m.

San Jose at Los Angeles, 9:30 p.m.