Gästebuch » Vincent Trochek’s return gave the Florida Panthers

SUNRISE Josh Bailey Jersey , Fla. (AP) — Vincent Trochek’s return gave the Florida Panthers the spark they desperately needed.Mike Matheson scored the winning goal and Trocheck had an assist on the play to help the Panthers snap a seven-game losing streak by beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Friday night.Trocheck returned to the Panthers’ lineup after missing 27 games with a broken ankle suffered on Nov. 19 against Ottawa.“It was awesome. Never felt better,” Trocheck said. “Just thankful that I’m able to come back and play hockey again. It’s been a long time coming.”Trocheck was scheduled to come back after the All-Star break but the 27-year-old was having none of that, apparently demanding to return as early as possible.“I don’t know. I’ve been pushing for a while,” Trocheck said. “The day it happened I gave Dave (DiNapoli, the team trainer) a date. I said Jan. 21st is my date that I was going to come back.” After Thursday’s practice the team decided to make the move.Mike Hoffman and Frank Vatrano also scored for Florida. Roberto Luongo made 20 saves and Luongo moved within four wins of tying Ed Belfour (484) for third place on the NHL’s all-time wins list.“It’s a huge boost for our club,” Luongo said of having Trocheck back. “We didn’t think he was going to play, but just having him at practice yesterday Brady Skjei Jersey , it really got the boys jacked up. It was nice to see him in the lineup and contributing.The Panthers took a 2-1 lead when Trocheck passed to Matheson at the point and he one-timed a shot that beat Sparks with 5:01 left in the first.“It was a great play by Troch to have the awareness to stop up and put it on a tee for me,” Matheson said.Ron Hainsey scored for the Maple Leafs have lost six of their last nine. Garret Sparks stopped 26 shots in his first start since Dec. 29th.“I’m just happy to get back in the net,” Sparks said. “I just wanted to show up tonight and give us a chance to win. I wasn’t able to make that extra save tonight but moving forward these are games I feel I can win.”The Leafs were in the second of back-to-back games, coming off a 4-2 win at NHL-leading Tampa Bayon Thursday night. Florida had not played since a 5-1 loss at Montreal on Tuesday.“I thought they were better than us at the start. It took us a while to get our legs going,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. “Now with Trocheck and Bjugstad (who returned last Sunday) back they’ve got a good team here. We knew it was going to be hard coming in and we would have liked to have been better.”Vatrano’s empty-net goal with 1:49 left capped the scoring.“I think we’re starting to turn the corner,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. “We have a long way to go but tonight was 20 guys doing their job and everybody contributing.”The Leafs jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Hainsey’s goal 1:49 in. Hainsey took a pass from Morgan Rielly at the blue line and fired the puck through traffic past Luongo.The Panthers tied it 1-all on Hoffman’s team-leading 23rd goal. Keith Yandle took a shot from the blue line and Hoffman redirected the puck past Sparks at 9:02 of the first.NOTES: Panthers D Josh Brown made his NHL debut. “You dream about that moment all your life. I’m just happy we got the win.” … D MacKenzie Weegar has been placed on injured reserve. … Forward Juho Lammikko has been loaned to AHL Springfield.UP NEXTMaple Leafs: Host Arizona on Sunday.Panthers: Visit Nashville on Saturday. MONTREAL (AP) — The Montreal Canadiens put an end to a tough losing streak Tuesday night.Tomas Tatar scored in the third period to lift Montreal over the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2, ending a four-game skid with its first victory since Feb. 4.Paul Byron and Max Domi also scored http://www.officialblackhawksproshop.com/authentic-adidas-artem-anisimov-jersey , and Carey Price made 31 saves.“We knew, everyone knew, that this was the biggest slump of the year,” Domi said. “That one’s out of the way, now we just got to focus on the next one.”Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 shots, and Josh Anderson and Nick Foligno scored for Columbus.“Worked hard to get back in it. Couldn’t finish,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said.The Blue Jackets were playing the second game of a back-to-back after losing to Tampa Bay on Monday night. The visitors were also without forward Artemi Panarin Brandon Saad Jersey , who sat out due to illness.Byron scored in his return to the lineup after missing the last six games due to a forearm injury.In the second period, Domi and Foligno, both sons of former NHL enforcers, exchanged blows after Foligno hit defenseman Mike Reilly from behind.“When one of your buddies gets hit like that, you got to step in,” Domi said. “That’s part of what being a teammate is.”“(Domi) asked me, and I said Brent Seabrook Jersey Kids , ‘If you want to fight, let’s fight,'” Foligno said. “I’m sure our dads would be proud.”Domi put the Canadiens on the board 90 seconds in. The forward powered up the wing and tried to feed Jonathan Drouin on a 2-on-1. The puck instead went off forward Eric Robinson, and Domi batted it past Bobrovsky for his 20th of the season.Byron’s goal came nearly 16 minutes later. After Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s shot went wide of the net and off the backboard, Byron was first to the puck and buried it past Bobrovsky for his 11th of the season.The Blue Jackets drew one back in the opening moments of the second period, when Anderson sniped one past Price.Foligno tied it in the third period when he put a rebound past Price. Anderson picked up his second point of the night with an assist.The Canadiens retook the lead at 13:08 of the third on Tatar’s 19th of the season. Defenseman Jordie Benn hung along the boards and fed Tatar with a pass to Bobrovsky’s right, and he quickly tapped it past the goaltender.Tatar said he was trying to find the right position on the play Youth Corey Crawford Jersey , but he locked into place once his eyes met Benn’s.“I got a little lost,” Tatar said. “I think Jordie looked at me and I just stopped there. He made a beautiful pass for sure.”NOTES: Byron played in his 400th career NHL game. … Blue Jackets’ forward Brandon Dubinsky suited up in his 800th career game.UP NEXTBlue Jackets: Play at Ottawa on Friday night.Canadiens: Host Philadelphia on Thursday night.