Panthers edge Hurricanes, gain in playoff push

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Defenseman Alexander Petrovic scored with 7:58 remaining to help the Florida Panthers gain ground in the race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 3-2 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at BB&T Center on Monday.

Petrovic beat goalie Scott Darling with a wrist shot through traffic from the right half-wall for his second goal of the season.
"It doesn't come too often, but everyone chips in a certain way, and tonight we just found a way to get the two points," Petrovic said. "Just keeping this thing alive."
WATCH: [All Hurricanes vs. Panthers highlights\]
The Panthers (40-30-8) moved within five points of the idle New Jersey Devils for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference with one game in hand. Florida ended a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) in its return to BB&T Center following a four-game road trip.
The Panthers have three more home games, including Tuesday against the Nashville Predators, before closing the regular season at the Boston Bruins on Sunday.

"We have to win out and win every home game," Florida coach Bob Boughner said. "It's not easy when you're on a long road trip and the first game back. Sometimes those are tough games to play in."
MacKenzie Weegar and Evgenii Dadonov scored, Roberto Luongo made 26 saves, and Aleksander Barkov had two assists for the Panthers.
Trevor van Riemsdyk and Derek Ryan scored for Carolina (35-34-11), which was eliminated from playoff contention Saturday. Darling made 32 saves.
"I thought we had lots of chances early," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "We had lots of good looks, lots of odd-man rushes early. Both teams were a little bit looser than I probably anticipated. The game tightened up a little bit as the game went along. But we needed to get something out of those offensive opportunities early in the game."
Van Riemsdyk gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 3:44 of the first period when he scored on the rebound of a Brock McGinn shot after Luongo made several saves.

Weegar tied it 1-1 19 seconds later after taking a feed from Jared McCann and beating Darling from the right circle at 4:03. It was his second goal in 56 games this season, first since Oct. 20.
"We've got to respond after they score and we did just that," Weegar said. "I'm happy I could contribute. It's been a long time. Been sort of a shutdown (defenseman), working on my defense, but happy to jump up in the play and get one."
Dadonov gave Florida a 2-1 lead with 9.1 seconds left in the first with a power-play goal. After taking a centering pass from Barkov, Dadonov came in alone on Darling and shot past his blocker.
Ryan tied it 2-2 at 13:48 of the second period when the Hurricanes caught the Panthers in a line change. Two quick passes after a Florida dump-in sent Ryan on a breakaway, and he beat Luongo with a backhand.
"We needed tonight's win at all costs," Luongo said. "We got the job done, now we've got to get some rest tonight and another big game tomorrow."

Goal of the game

Petrovic's goal at 12:02 of the third period.

Save of the game

Luongo stopping Haydn Fleury at 6:08 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Dadonov's goal at 19:50 of the first period.

They said it

"More than trying to ruin their season, it's us playing for pride for each other. That's more important for me. We're playing for the Carolina Hurricanes, not trying to ruin the Florida Panthers' season. That's how I look at it." -- Hurricanes forward Derek Ryan
"You can't win every game, but good teams are able to shut it down quickly and come back with a win. You can't afford to lose many games at this time of year. Right now, we're just going to focus on tomorrow." -- Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo

Need to know

Ryan has two goals and five assists during an NHL career-high five-game point streak. … The Panthers reached 40 victories for the fifth time in their history (1995-96, 1999-2000, 2008-09 and 2015-16). … With his first assist, Barkov became the first Florida player with at least 50 in a season since Olli Jokinen had 52 in 2006-07. Barkov needs two assists to tie the Panthers record of 53 assists, set by Viktor Kozlov in 1999-2000. … Panthers fourth-line wing Colton Sceviour replaced Nick Bjugstad on the top line for most of the third period and had an assist on Petrovic's game-winning goal.

What's next

Hurricanes: At the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, FS-CR, NHL.TV)
Panthers: Host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-TN, NHL.TV)