Luongo, Panthers end Lightning's winning streak

SUNRISE, Fla. - With a 5-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at BB&T Center on Saturday, the Florida Panthers defeated both 2015 Stanley Cup Finalists on back-to-back nights.
Florida (28-15-5) defeated Tampa Bay (26-18-4) for the third time in four games and ended the Lightning's seven-game winning streak dating back to Jan. 5. Florida blanked the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0 on Friday, ending a four-game losing streak.

Panthers forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Nick Bjugstad each had a goal and an assist
"We know we can beat any team in the league," Huberdeau said. "That just means that we're a really good team and we can just show we've had a struggle lately and we came out this weekend and showed the league that we're a good team against a really good team, too."
Florida has won 14 in a row with defenseman Aaron Ekblad in the lineup. The 2014-15 Calder Trophy winner did not play during the Panthers four-game losing streak because of a concussion.
"We knew it was going to be two tough games," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. "It was a good challenge for our team because we haven't played well the last probably five or six games prior - even though we won a few of those games, we didn't get back to our game. And I thought this weekend up until the third period we played great hockey. And that's what we need to do."
Florida broke a scoreless tie with four goals in the second period, tying their season high for goals in a period.
Huberdeau opened the scoring at 8:50 of the second period, 30 seconds after Tampa Bay goaltender Ben Bishop stopped him on a breakaway. After taking a backhand pass from Aleksander Barkov at the top of the left circle, Huberdeau stickhandled back and forth before firing a wrist shot over Bishop's glove.
Bjugstad's goal at 12:36 of the second ended an 0-for-28 drought for the Florida power play. He scored with one second left on the man advantage, when he redirected Huberdeau's nifty backhand pass from across the crease past Bishop.
Forwards Reilly Smith and Vincent Trocheck scored in a span of 1:37.
Smith scored for the third straight game when he made it 3-0 at 15:56 of the second. His pass across the front of the net hit Hedman's skate and went into the net. Smith tied forward Jaromir Jagr for the team lead with 15 goals.
"I didn't think I could score from that angle," Smith said. "When you're hot, you're hot, I guess. I wanted to see (Quinton Howden) put it in, but when it happens like that, you'll definitely take it."
"Yeah, it was definitely a long time," Smith said. "Power plays are huge in this league. If you're not taking advantage, you're not winning games usually. So it was nice to score one and take a little bit of pressure off (Luongo)."
Trocheck made it 4-0 at 17:33 when he played a loose puck in front of the net, clashing sticks with Tampa Bay defenseman Matt Carle. The puck floated into the air and over Bishop's shoulder.
Bishop, who allowed two goals in his past three starts, was replaced by backup Andrei Vasilevskiy after the second period after allowing four goals on 30 shots.
Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo, starting on back-to-back nights for the first time this season, made 38 saves. Luongo extended his shutout streak to 127:09 before Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman scored a power-play goal, his fourth of the season, at 5:39 of the third period.
"We were playing really well," Luongo said. "We were skating, forechecking well, creating a lot of turnovers and we got a few bounces, buried our chances. Obviously it was a huge period for our club there."
The Lightning came out with a strong effort to start the third period, outshooting the Panthers 12-1 in the first 9:30. Luongo faced 22 shots in the third period.
"I need a lot of rest after tonight," Luongo said. "Obviously they're a good team. They weren't going to lay down. It was a busy third period, but we were able to come out of there with the two points.
"Under normal circumstances, I would have split it with (Al Montoya), but given the fact that this game was really important and there was no travel and it was both home games, it was a bit easier for me to recoup and re-energize for the second game and allow me to play both."
With a faceoff in the Florida zone and his team trailing 4-1, Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper pulled Vasilevskiy for an extra attacker at 9:33 of the third period. Chicago coach Joel Quenneville used the same strategy with more than eight minutes left on Friday.
Panthers defenseman Brian Campbell scored an empty-net goal, his fourth of the season, with 4:08 left in the game.
Tampa Bay forward JT Brown scored with 1:29 left in the game.
"You know you're not going to win them all," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "We just didn't play well. That's a good team over there. They're first place for a reason. We've had some tight games (but) this one got away from us. It's one of the first games we got dominated in a period like that."
Florida increased their lead in the Atlantic Division to five points.
Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov extended his point streak to eight games (six goals, five assists) with an assist.
Tampa Bay's winning streak came one game short of the franchise record set in 2003-04, a season that ended with the franchise's only Stanley Cup championship.
"There's no good way to end the streak," Bishop said. "Tonight wasn't our night. Usually the harder-working team gets the bounces and tonight they had those."