Canucks rally to deny Panthers first win

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Bo Horvat scored the go-ahead goal at 6:11 of the third period to help the Vancouver Canucks defeat the Florida Panthers 3-2 at BB&T Center on Saturday.

"Great team win tonight," Canucks coach Travis Green said. "I'm proud of our group. That's a good team over there and to come on the road and find a way was by far our most complete game of the year."
Elias Pettersson scored in the second period to tie a Canucks record by extending his point streak at the start of his career to five games (Don Tannahill, 1972-73). Pettersson left the game 4:57 into the third with an injury after being checked into the boards by defenseman Mike Matheson.
WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Panthers highlights]
"It's a dirty play," Green said. "The League's trying to protect the good young players, and that's just a dirty play."
Vancouver lost center Jay Beagle later in the third period when he was injured while blocking a shot. Green didn't have an update on Pettersson or Beagle after the game.

Antoine Roussel scored in his debut for the Canucks (3-2-0) after missing four games with a concussion. Sven Baertschi had two assists, and Anders Nilsson made 24 saves.
Vancouver had 23 blocked shots, including eight by defenseman Chris Tanev.
"Our D-zone coverage today was unbelievable throughout the whole game, especially in the end," Nilsson said. "[The Panthers] had some zone time, but they didn't get the puck through to the net, so I didn't have to make any saves and [the defense] kept them to the outside. [A] lot of huge blocks tonight."
Jonathan Huberdeau scored, and Vincent Trocheck had a goal and an assist for the Panthers (0-2-1). James Reimer, making his second consecutive start in place of the injured Roberto Luongo (knee), made 27 saves.
Florida went 0-for-5 on the power play and is 0-for-12 on the season.
"We have a lot of guys with experience in the power play scoring goals," Trocheck said. "We just have to do it."

Horvat scored when he redirected Baertschi's backhand pass across the front of the net.
"That was a phenomenal pass, like [an] unbelievable backhand pass," Horvat said. "All I had to do was tap it in from there. Kudos to him for doing that."
Huberdeau gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 12:31 of the second period before Pettersson tied it 1-1 at 14:48 with a wrist shot from the right circle.
Seven seconds after a Florida power play ended, Trocheck gave the Panthers the lead again when he one-timed Keith Yandle's pass in the left circle to make it 2-1 at 17:20.
Roussel tied it 2-2 at 18:15 on a penalty shot after he was hooked from behind by defenseman Bogdan Kiselevich. Roussel, who signed with the Canucks as a free agent July 1 after playing his first six NHL seasons with the Dallas Stars, had two penalties in the first period.
"He's going to take a few penalties," Green said. "That's the way he plays. We know what kind of player he is. He's also going to bring a lot of other things to our group."

This was the second consecutive game the Panthers lost after having the lead twice. They led the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 and 4-3 on Thursday before losing 5-4 at home.
"Every time we take the lead it's tough when the other team ties it up right after," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "That's a pattern that's got to change."

They said it

"It's nice to get some confidence from the coaches. As a goalie, everybody wants to play as much as possible, so it's always nice to get in there. I wanted to show myself and show everyone else that I can play more consistent and put two good games together, so it was nice to play a solid game." -- Canucks goalie Anders Nilsson on his consecutive victories against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Panthers
"Once we get a lead, we've got to learn how to win. Everything we worked hard for in the second half of last season, we've got to get some of that back." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner

Need to know

Vancouver swept the two-game Florida trip for the first time since November 2002. … Florida is winless after three games for the first time since 2014-15. … Luongo was honored before the game for playing his 1,000th NHL game, which he did April 5 in a 3-2 victory against the Boston Bruins. … Kiselevich made his NHL debut after playing nine seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League.

What's next

Canucks: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Panthers: At the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, FS-F, NHL.TV)