Luongo ties Esposito, Panthers defeat Maple Leafs

Florida goaltender Roberto Luongo made 22 saves and tied Tony Esposito for seventh place on the all-time list with his 423rd career victory in the Florida Panthers' 5-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at BB&T Center on Tuesday.
Luongo won his eighth consecutive home game, extending his own franchise record. He is 22-13-4 this season and will play in the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Game in Nashville on Sunday. Luongo is 14 victories behind Jacques Plante for sixth place in career victories.

"It was a fun game before the break; we wanted to end on the right note, feeling good about our team headed into the break," Luongo said, according to the Sun Sentinel. "We'll take the next few days to relax and then go enjoy Nashville."
Forwards Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck and Jussi Jokinen had second-period goals, and Reilly Smith and defenseman Alexander Petrovic scored in the third period to help the Panthers win their third consecutive game.
Florida has outscored its opponents 10-0 in the second period during the victories against the Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Maple Leafs.

"Toronto was frustrating us, they played a tight-checking game,'' coach Gerard Gallant told the team website. "After that we played hard and held our composure.
"We had a great weekend and we didn't want a letdown."
Barkov tied the game early in the second period, hours after signing a six-year contract extension.
"It was a great day for me," Barkov told the Sun Sentinel. "A lot has happened today. I couldn't be any happier to be with this team for a long time and couldn't be any happier for the game."
The Panthers (29-15-5) reached the All-Star break in first place in the Atlantic Division. They finished 8-3-1 in January and are 15-3-1 in their past 19 games.
Toronto forward Nazem Kadri scored with 2:25 left in the first period and goaltender James Reimer finished with 22 saves for Toronto (17-21-9), which plays its final game before the break at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.
"I thought we came out and played well," Reimer said. "Obviously, I think they had some Grade A chances, and they were able to get them by me. Sometimes, that's the way it goes, you know? We'll get back on the horse [Wednesday] and get after it."
The Panthers controlled play for most of the first period, outshooting the Maple Leafs 7-0 through the first 13:11. But Toronto capitalized on its first real scoring opportunity to take the lead.
Kadri took Peter Holland's bank pass off the boards as he came over the blue line, cut toward the middle after Florida defenseman Eric Gudbranson fell down, and swept across the front of the crease before tucking the puck past Luongo at 17:35 for his 10th of the season.
But the Panthers, who had been 0-9-2 this season when trailing after one period, took control in the second.
Barkov tied it at 3:49 with a power-play goal. With Phaneuf off for boarding, defenseman Brian Campbell's pass sent Barkov in alone. The third-year center, who signed a six-year contract extension earlier Tuesday, went forehand-to-backhand before lifting the puck over Reimer's pad for his 13th goal.
"I thought we had things going good and our penalty kill was going good, and then Barkov walked right down the middle," Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. "We didn't do our job or what we're supposed to do, what we talked about it in the meeting and the next thing you know, I thought they got going."

Florida went ahead at 7:40 on Trocheck's power-play goal. Jokinen carried the puck into the left circle and found Trocheck at the right post for an easy tap-in, his 14th goal of the season. Jokinen made it 3-1 at 14:13 with his ninth, beating Reimer from the slot after Smith's takeaway at center ice triggered a 2-on-1 break.
"When we feel that we're smelling blood, we just keep pouring it on," Luongo said. "The good thing is we don't sit back; we try to keep going and get some more goals."
Smith gave Florida a three-goal lead at 3:52 of the third period when he grabbed the rebound of Gudbranson's shot, stepped around Reimer and put the puck into a half-empty net for his team-high 16th. He has goals in four consecutive games.
Petrovic scored his first NHL goal in his 82nd career game at 7:43 when his wrist shot from the right point surprised Reimer.
"Every game I was trying to get my shots through, get a goal," he told the Panthers website. "Today I got a nice, lucky one, put it on net. It's really nice to have."