McCann's late goal lifts Panthers past Devils

NEWARK, N.J. -- Jared McCann broke a tie with 7:15 remaining in the third period, and Roberto Luongo became the second goalie in NHL history to win 200 games with two teams in the Florida Panthers' 3-2 victory against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Monday.
Aleksander Barkov and Vincent Trocheck also scored, and Mike Matheson had two assists for Florida (9-12-2).

Luongo, who made 23 saves, is 200-219-67 over nine-plus seasons with the Panthers. He went 252-137-50 as a member of the Vancouver Canucks over seven-plus seasons. Patrick Roy won 289 games with the Montreal Canadiens, and 262 with the Colorado Avalanche.
WATCH: [All Panthers vs. Devils highlights]
"I'm in a little bit of a rhythm right now and just trying to keep focused on playing the best I can on a daily basis," Luongo, 38, said. "If you're playing well you're going to give your team a chance to win, and those wins and those milestones will come. It's nice when you reach a certain milestone, but the focus is primarily on winning games and trying to get into the [Stanley Cup Playoffs]."

McCann gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead on a backhand just outside the right post that deflected off Cory Schneider. His initial attempt was blocked by Andy Greene.
"I think I kind of banked it off the goalie, so I kind of got lucky on that one," McCann said.
Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt scored, and Schneider made 35 saves for New Jersey (14-6-4).
"We weren't happy with our response in the second," Schneider said. "We got challenged a little bit to bounce back from probably our worst period of the year. In the second, it wasn't much better. It probably couldn't get much worse. We wanted to see a little more improvement to set the third period up for us."
The Panthers outshot the Devils 31-10 through two periods.
Bratt made it 2-2 when he scored his ninth goal of the season at 8:19 of the third period. His attempt off a Panthers turnover behind the net deflected off Aaron Ekblad's skate.
Trocheck, who has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in his past 12 games, scored his 10th goal of the season at 4:07 of the third on a wrist shot from the right circle.

"We needed a little bit of momentum, needed some confidence," Trocheck said. "We talked about it before and after the game today that this is just one game. We can't get too high or low, but winning a game like this certainly helps your confidence."
Hischier tied it 1-1 at 2:20 of the third off a high wrist shot from the right hash. After controlling a puck that deflected off Alexander Petrovic in the slot, Hischier beat Luongo over his left shoulder.
Barkov gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 17:20 of the second period when he scored his third shorthanded goal of the season on a 2-on-1 with Colton Sceviour.
"We wanted to play smart the whole game, try to play in their zone," Barkov said. "They have highly skilled players, but I thought we played a pretty good game. We outshot them by a lot, played smart and got rewarded."

Goal of the game

McCann's goal at 12:45 of the third period.

Save of the game

Luongo against John Moore with one second left in the first period.

Highlight of the game

Hischier's goal at 2:20 of the third period.

They said it

"Right now the team is playing better in front of me, so that helps a lot with the way I play; it's a give and take. They feel better in front of me, and I feel better behind them. We have to stick to our systems. We're learning them and you're starting to see the results a bit as far as not giving as many odd-man scoring chances and breakaways." -- Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo
"We know we didn't have our best game. It's up to us to fix that. [Florida] played hard with urgency. They were stepping up on guys, closing gaps. They didn't give us a lot of time and space. They were ready to go and they played hard. We have to improve and correct it and make sure it doesn't happen again." -- Devils goalie Cory Schneider

Need to know

Panthers forward Evgenii Dadonov (upper-body injury) is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. ... Denis Malgin, who was recalled from Springfield of the American Hockey League on Monday, replaced Dadonov on the top line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov. ... Panthers goalie James Reimer will start at the New York Rangers on Tuesday. … Hischier's goal was his first at Prudential Center. … Monday ended a stretch of seven games in 12 days for the Devils.

What's next

Panthers: At the New York Rangers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, MSG, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Devils: At the Colorado Avalanche on Friday (9 p.m. ET; MSG+ 2, ALT, NHL.TV)