Reimer, Panthers win in shootout, hand Flames fourth straight loss

The Calgary Flames lost their fourth straight game, 3-2 to the Florida Panthers in a shootout at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, on Thursday.

James Reimer made a season-high 41 saves, Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov scored, and Vincent Trocheck scored the deciding goal in the shootout for the Panthers (24-24-8), who had lost two in a row.
"I thought our commitment was really impressive tonight and I think we knew we had to be good, we knew we had to bring our A-game to beat a team like that," Reimer said. "When we play like that good things will happen. Hopefully we keep that feeling and remember the work it took and keep going."
WATCH: [All Flames vs. Panthers highlights]
Mark Jankowski and Elias Lindholm scored, and Mike Smith made 30 saves for the Flames (34-16-7). Calgary, which is 1-3-2 in its past six games after going 8-0-1 in its previous nine, is tied for first in the Pacific Division with the San Jose Sharks, who lost 5-1 at home to the Washington Capitals on Thursday.
"I thought the effort was there," Smith said. "The compete level was there. The battle level was there. There was a lot of good things out of that game and unfortunately we were just a little too short at the end, but I thought that we did a lot of good things tonight and if we keep playing like that we'll be rewarded for it."

In the shootout, Trocheck paused in the slot before shooting over Smith's glove in the top of the third round, and Matthew Tkachuk missed the net on a backhand to give Florida the win.
"We needed to come out and play with urgency and desperation," Trocheck said. "I think we did that, especially in the third. We had a few ups and downs but we stuck with it throughout the whole period. We played well in overtime and had a couple chances, and were able to close it out in the shootout."
Calgary twice tied the game after trailing by one in the third period.
Jankowski tied the it 1-1 at 6:51 with a shot over Reimer's glove.

Hoffman shot short side over Smith's shoulder at 11:59 to put Florida up 2-1, and Rasmus Andersson's shot deflected in off Lindholm to tie it 2-2 at 17:36.
Smith made five saves in overtime, including one on Aleksander Barkov on a breakaway at 1:24.
"He was real good," Flames coach Bill Peters said. "He was solid. He was just in total control, I thought, and did a good job handling pucks."
Dadonov scored his 20th goal of the season to put Florida up 1-0 at 15:17 of the second period. The goal came after Reimer made a left pad save on Derek Ryan shorthanded from in close at 6:47 and came across his crease to stop Michael Frolik's one-timer on a 2-on-1 at 10:39.

Reimer stopped TJ Brodie's slap shot on the power play at 17:57.
"Anytime he makes a save, a big save that stops a grade-A chance or great opportunity, it gives us a little bit more energy," Trocheck said. "He played great out there for us."

They said it

"I thought our shot mentality was back. I thought that we retrieved a lot of pucks and we got some second and third chances around the net. I'm pretty happy about the way they responded. This is a good hockey team. You see they never quit. We had two leads and squandered two leads, but we just kept fighting all the way and that's what I liked about this game the most." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner
"We've got another level that we can get back to. I don't think we're all dialed in and 100 percent committed to doing it right each and every shift. There's room to grow here." -- Flames coach Bill Peters

Need to know

Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau has gone seven games without a goal after scoring 10 in his previous 11. … Calgary forward James Neal left the game after sustaining a lower-body injury in the second period. There was no update after the game. … Florida has scored the first goal in eight of its past 10 games. … Panthers forward Jayce Hawryluk had two hits and a blocked shot in 6:17 after missing four games because of an ankle injury. … Florida held a moment of silence to mark the one-year anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in nearby Parkland. Goalie Roberto Luongo wore a special mask in warmups that contained 17 candles, one for each of those killed. The Panthers plan to display the mask in their Den of Honor.

What's next

Flames: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ATTSN-PT, SNW, NHL.TV)
Panthers: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; SN, FS-F, RDS, NHL.TV)