Panthers Recap: Panthers 3, Thrashers 2

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SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -Olli Jokinen and Rostislav Olesz scored power-play goals and the Florida Panthers tied a franchise record with their seventh consecutive victory, 3-1 over the Atlanta Thrashers on Sunday.

Radek Dvorak added a goal for the Panthers, who haven't lost since they were beaten by Minnesota 3-2 on Feb. 29. Florida also won seven in a row in the 1995-96 and 2005-06 seasons.

Jokinen added an assist, and Brett McLean extended his point streak to six games with two assists. He has four goals and six assists during the run.

The Panthers are only two points behind eighth-place Philadelphia and the postseason cutoff in the Eastern Conference.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored for Atlanta, which has lost nine straight on the road and 12 of 14 overall.

Atlanta outshot Florida 30-25, the first time in 24 games the Thrashers held an edge.

All-Star Tomas Vokoun made 29 saves for Florida, and Johan Hedberg finished with 22.

Florida was 2-5 on the power play, compared to Atlanta's 0-for-4 effort.

After Dvorak gave Florida a 1-0 lead with his first goal since Jan. 15, Jokinen made it 2-0 with his second in two games.

He took a short pass near the boards before firing a slap shot from just outside the circle that beat Hedberg to the stick side.

Kovalchuk scored his 49th of the season exactly 1 minute into the second period to cut Florida's lead in half. He tipped in Bryan Little's pass from the side of the net.

Olesz restored Florida's two-goal lead 17 seconds into the third when he one-timed Jokinen's pass across the crease.

Notes: Florida D Bryan Allen sat out because of a hand injury sustained Friday when he was checked into the boards from behind by Rangers forward Brendan Shanahan. ... Florida D Branislav Mezei replaced Allen in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous four games. ... Atlanta C Todd White missed his sixth consecutive game because of a shoulder injury. ... After hitting the post twice against the Rangers on Friday, Olesz did it again in the first period. ... Atlanta hadn't held a shots advantage since a 31-24 edge over Edmonton on Jan. 20 in a 4-2 loss.

Panthers Recap: Panthers 3, Rangers 2

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SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -It took the streaking Florida Panthers to cool off the New York Rangers.

Olli Jokinen's tiebreaking power-play goal 7:12 into the third period stretched the Panthers' winning streak to a season-high six and handed the Rangers their first regulation loss in more than a month, 3-2 on Friday night.

"They're playing great hockey," said Rangers forward Scott Gomez, who scored one of New York's goals. "They stuck to their game plan. Certain guys over there are stepping up their play. Give them credit."

The Rangers had been 10-0-3 since a 4-1 home loss to Anaheim on Feb. 7. One of those victories was a 5-0 shutout over the Panthers on Feb. 24.

"The way we played in New York was kind of embarrassing," Jokinen said. "They outplayed us, they outworked us. We wanted to redeem ourselves."

Florida's winning streak is the third longest in team history.

Rostislav Olesz and Jassen Cullimore also scored for Florida, which is making a push for a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Panthers have 76 points, three fewer than eighth-place Philadelphia.

"I think our best games are still ahead and we keep getting better," Jokinen said. "We're a confident group right now, but the bottom line is we can't get too high."

Dan Girardi had the other goal for the Rangers, sixth in the East with 83 points.

Florida's Tomas Vokoun stopped 32 shots, five more than Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers.

The game, played in front of Florida's fourth home sellout crowd of the season, had a playoff feel.

"It was an awesome game to play in," Panthers center Stephen Weiss. "There was a lot of emotion. It's nice to come out with two points."

Jokinen's game-winner was his first goal in nine games.

"I'm not going to lie to you, of course it's nice to score," he said. "But the bottom line is we've been winning games and I think every line has been able to chip in and play pretty good hockey. But it's always nice to score."

With Martin Straka in the penalty box for hooking, Steve Montador took a shot from the point that Lundqvist couldn't glove. Jokinen dug the puck out of a crowd in front and scored his 31st of the season.

"There was a couple rebounds there, and they finally got it in," Lundqvist said. "I picked up (the initial shot) late and kind of reacted late to it. We got stuck with a rebound there and they just kept banging. It was just under my pad."

The Rangers had chances to tie the game late as Florida was called for two penalties in the last 5:34.

The first power play ended after only 13 seconds when Rangers defenseman Fedor Tyutin took a penalty. The second started with 2:06 left, and New York pulled Lundqvist for a sixth attacker during the advantage.

Shortly after Olesz's shot at the empty net from just outside the Florida blue line hit the post with 30 seconds remaining, Rangers forward Chris Drury found himself alone in the slot, but Vokoun stopped his wrist shot.

"You had to like the looks," Gomez said. "We had Chris Drury in the slot there. What can you say? The guy just knows where to go. We did everything we wanted to do, give them credit.

"Their defense played great, there's nothing you can say. We got looks, it just didn't go in."

After Olesz and Girardi traded goals in the first period, the Rangers took advantage of a 5-on-3 advantage at the start of the second to take a 2-1 lead.

Gomez scored 28 seconds in when he banged in a rebound off Brendan Shanahan's one-timer from the point.

Florida tied it at 11:42 of the second on Cullimore's third of the season. Cullimore fired a slap shot from the point through traffic and beat Lundqvist low to the glove side.

"We're very disappointed considering we had a couple opportunities at the end," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "It would have been a big emotional lift to find a way against a very hot team. This is their sixth win in a row, and we knew going in they were going to be tough."

Notes: The teams split the four-game season series. ... Cullimore played in his 700th NHL game. ... Florida D Bryan Allen left the ice in the second period after behind checked into the boards from behind by Shanahan and didn't return. Shanahan was assessed a minor penalty. ... Because of Allen's injury, Montador moved from forward to defense in the third period. ... Florida won seven straight in the 1995-96 and 2005-06 seasons.

Panthers Recap: Panthers 4, Islanders 2

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SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -Karlis Skrastins wasn't planning to shoot from the blue line until he heard an encouraging yell from a teammate. The result was another winning goal for the Florida Panthers.

Skrastins' second goal of the season 8:22 into the third period broke a tie and led the streaking Panthers to a 4-2 victory over the slumping New York Islanders on Wednesday night.

Skrastins stopped the Islanders' clearing attempt at the blue line and then fired a slap shot that beat Rick DiPietro to the far side after the goalie was screened by New York defenseman Matthew Spiller.

"I was just thinking about getting the puck back in the corner, but somebody yelled to me that I had a little bit of time, so I took my time," Skrastins said. "I was thinking maybe to pass over to (Jay Bouwmeester), but I just shot and it was a good shot."

Skrastins, acquired from Colorado last month at the trade deadline, scored his first goal for the Panthers. He has 23 goals in 589 career games, and six were game-winners.

"It's great to see a guy like that score a goal like that," Florida defenseman Bryan Allen said. "Ever since he's come in here, he's a guy that battles every night and sacrifices his body and does whatever he can to help the team. It's nice to see a guy like that get rewarded once in a while."

The Panthers won their season-high fifth straight game. Florida won all four meetings between the teams, completing its first season sweep of the Islanders since the Panthers' inaugural season in 1993-94.

Kamil Kreps and Stephen Weiss also scored for the Panthers, who moved within five points of eighth-place Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Brett McLean added an empty-net goal.

Florida has 74 points and is tied for 10th in the conference with Southeast Division-rival Washington.

Bill Guerin and Blake Comeau scored for the Islanders, who have lost six of seven and sunk to 13th in the Eastern Conference.

"To be how close we were a few weeks ago and to be where we are now is frustrating," Comeau said. "Until we're mathematically out, the guys in this room are going to keep pushing hard. Nobody is ready to lay down and die yet. We've got a great attitude in this room."

This was Florida's second victory over the Islanders in 10 days. The Panthers recorded a 1-0 road win on March 2 when backup Craig Anderson stopped 53 shots.

Tomas Vokoun was in net for Florida this time and made 27 saves.

Vokoun was particularly impressive early while the Islanders were outshooting Florida 10-1 in the first eight minutes.

"This game wasn't so good for us at the beginning," Skrastins said. "The only guy who played well was Volky. He kept us in the game."

DiPietro stopped 28 shots for the Islanders.

Weiss broke a 1-1 tie at 1:05 of the third period when his rebound shot from a sharp angle went off DiPietro's pad and landed behind him.

Comeau tied it at 7:18 with a power-play goal. He scored to the glove side with a wrist shot from the slot.

After a scoreless first period, the teams traded goals in the first 1:23 of the second.

Guerin gave the Islanders the lead 28 seconds in when he tapped home a pass from Richard Park on a 2-on-1. Kreps tied it 55 seconds later after taking a feed from Ville Peltonen on another 2-on-1.

"We got a goal, and then two shifts later give it back to them," Guerin said. "It's tough."

Notes: The Islanders fell to 9-5-1 in the second of back-to-back games this season. ... Islanders LW Ruslan Fedotenko sat out after injuring a knee in the third period of Tuesday's loss at Tampa Bay. ... Florida RW Nathan Horton extended his point streak to six games with an assist on McLean's goal. ... Five of the Panthers' previous eight home games had gone to overtime.

Panthers Recap: Panthers 3, Thrashers 2 OT

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SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -The Florida Panthers are trying to make a push for the playoffs, and Nathan Horton is supplying the clutch scoring.

His second overtime goal in three games gave the Panthers a 3-2 victory over Atlanta on Saturday night and extended their winning streak to four games.

"It's a huge win for us," said Horton, who gave the Panthers a 1-0 victory over Boston on Tuesday. "We need to keep this thing rolling, keep getting points."

The Panthers, who have matched their season high with their four-game streak, moved into a tie with Washington for 10th place in the Eastern Conference with 72 points. Philadelphia is in eighth with 78 points.

The Panthers haven't made the playoffs since the 1999-2000 season.

"We lose, we know we could be out and not have any chance," Horton said. "So we just need to keep winning. That's all we can control is winning games."

Brett McLean added two power-play goals for Florida. Both bounced in off Atlanta players.

Bryan Little and Ilya Kovalchuk scored power-play goals for the Thrashers, who snapped a nine-game losing streak Friday with a shootout victory over Minnesota.

Kovalchuk has scored in all five games this season against the Panthers.

But it was Kovalchuk who sat in the penalty box when Horton scored. He was called for hooking Jay Bouwmeester at 3:18 of overtime.

"We played pretty good early, we battled hard, we had a couple chances late," Kovalchuk said. "It was just a bad penalty by me and they scored the game winner."

Horton scored during 4-on-3 play during overtime when he put a slap shot from inside the top of the left circle over Kari Lehtonen's left shoulder.

Florida, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit, dominated overtime with a 6-1 shots advantage.

Florida went back to All-Star goalie Tomas Vokoun after backup Craig Anderson played three straight games, including recording back-to-back shutouts on the road. Vokoun finished with 25 saves after giving up a goal on his first shot.

Lehtonen stopped 38 shots for Atlanta but lost his ninth consecutive decision since a 3-2 shootout victory over Washington on Feb. 13.

"It's just frustrating," he said. "I don't even remember when I won a game last. There's only so much you can take of this. I just need to battle and come back strong back next game."

Little opened the scoring 2:12 into the game after Mark Recchi's pass from behind the net got past Vokoun.

Kovalchuk doubled the Thrashers' lead when his one-timer trickled through Vokoun's legs.

"The second goal was a straight shot from the blue line," Vokoun said. "I would stop that most nights with my hands tied behind my back."

Florida made it 2-1 at 18:32 of the first. Lehtonen made a pad save on McLean's wrist shot, but the rebound bounced in off the skate of Thrashers defenseman Ken Klee.

McLean scored again at 8:40 of the second when his flip from the back of the net went in off the back of Lehtonen's leg.

The comeback from a two-goal deficit was the Panthers' first since Jan. 2.

"The way we played in the first period was a little embarrassing," Florida captain Olli Jokinen said. "(Vokoun) has been carrying us the whole year, and the way we played in the first is not the way you should play in front of your No. 1 goalie. It was a big win for him and for our hockey club."

Notes: Florida also won four in a row from Nov. 19-28. ... Jokinen's assists on Florida's last two goals made him the Panthers' career leader with 230. Robert Svehla had held the mark. ... Atlanta C Todd White missed his second consecutive game because of a shoulder injury sustained Wednesday against Carolina. He had missed the previous two games because of an elbow injury. ... Florida is still without C Chad Kilger, who has been suspended by the team for not returning in a timely fashion after being granted a leave of absence.

Panthers Recap: Panthers 5, Penguins 2

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SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -Craig Anderson wasn't perfect. For a change, the Florida Panthers' goalie didn't have to be.

Anderson stopped 25 shots, David Booth had a goal and two assists and the Panthers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Thursday night to stay within seven points of Carolina in the Southeast Division standings.

After carrying Florida to consecutive 1-0 victories and setting a slew of NHL records in the process, Anderson's bid for a third consecutive shutout ended early. But afterward, all that mattered to him was that the Panthers opened a critical seven-game homestand with a victory.

"You want your best games at the end of the year when you're getting that playoff push," Anderson said. "You want to be playing your best hockey. Look at other teams that were playing good at the start of the year. They're kind of fading off right now, but we want to continue to play strong."

Stephen Weiss added a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Rostislav Olesz and Brett McLean also scored for Florida, which sealed it on Bryan Allen's empty-netter with 51.8 seconds left.

Ryan Malone scored his 24th goal and Kristopher Letang got his fifth for Pittsburgh, which had beaten Florida in the teams' last five meetings. Reigning Hart Trophy winner Sidney Crosby, in his second game back since suffering a high ankle sprain and missing six weeks of action, had an assist for the Penguins.

"We just didn't come out the right way and we definitely paid for it," Crosby said. "This time of year, you can't afford to do that."

Anderson stopped 93 shots in his previous two outings at the New York Islanders and Boston Bruins, making Florida the first NHL team to win consecutive 1-0 games on the road.

No other goalie in league history - since such stats began being kept in the 1955-56 season - had ever stopped more than 75 shots in consecutive shutouts. And now Panthers coach Jacques Martin will have a dilemma: Does he stay with Anderson, or put the team's No. 1 goalie, Tomas Vokoun, back in the lineup for Saturday night against Atlanta?

"We'll see," Martin said.

By the time Anderson faced his first shot against the Penguins, he already had a 2-0 lead.

Booth opened the scoring at 4:19 of the first on a picture-perfect goal, a play where Nathan Horton carried the puck down the left wing boards and tapped it to Weiss, who found Booth for his 20th. Olesz got his 12th of the season 39 seconds later.

Those quick two goals matched Florida's total in its previous 134 minutes, 20 seconds of play.

"Makes it a lot easier than being down a goal, especially against that team," Weiss said.

From there, all eyes were on Anderson - whose streak would soon end. Malone tapped in a rebound at 6:19 of the first, snapping Anderson's run of 106 consecutive saves.

"Once they scored, it was actually a big weight off my chest," Anderson said. "There was a little bit of pressure there."

The Panthers restored the two-goal lead late in the first, when Weiss scored off a rebound against Marc-Andre Fleury at 17:54. Fleury stopped 16 of 19 shots in the opening period, and was replaced by Ty Conklin to start the second.

"I tried everything in my power as a coach to try to change momentum, get the attention from players," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said.

The teams traded goals in the opening minutes of the second, with McLean getting his 11th for Florida and Letang scoring when his knuckling shot beat Anderson midway through the period.

Crosby had a great chance to get Pittsburgh within 4-3 with 5:50 left in the second, skating in alone on Anderson, but couldn't get a shot off.

"I think he was scared of my poke-check," Anderson said.

All kidding aside, the Panthers' goalie was flawless the rest of the way.

Notes: Dave Zenobi, the Florida Panthers' trainer who helped save right wing Richard Zednik's life, was honored before the game with the ADT Good Sport Award. Zednik was part of the ceremony and drew a loud ovation. ... Nine-time Olympic swimming medalist Dara Torres, a South Florida resident, dropped the ceremonial first puck.

Panthers Recap: Panthers 1, Bruins 0 OT

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BOSTON (AP) -Florida's Craig Anderson had another perfectly busy game in goal.

Anderson followed his record-setting shutout two days ago with a 40-save performance in the Panthers' 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

Nathan Horton scored 22 seconds into overtime for Florida.

Anderson stopped 53 shots in a 1-0 victory over the Islanders on Sunday, the most in a shutout since shots on goal started being kept in the 1955-56 season.

Since 1989-90, it's the most saves in consecutive shutouts; Dominik Hasek for Buffalo in December 1997 had 75 saves, according to STATS LLC.

"These last two games have just been terrific," Anderson said. "As much as you want to say it's just one guy, it's been everybody. The little things you might not notice, I recognize, the coaches recognize, and the other guys recognize what guys are doing. We're making sure were getting the pucks out, we're making big blocks, we're making sure the puck doesn't get to the net, and a lot of the time I am seeing the shots, which is a credit to the guys in front of me."

Boston winger Glen Murray, who had the best scoring chance, felt the Bruins didn't take advantage of their limited chances.

"I would say 20 were good shots. The rest were outside of the blue line," he said. "Yeah, he played well, but the rebounds were there and we didn't get to them."

Alex Auld made 31 saves for the Bruins, but was beaten by Horton's wrist shot inside the left post on the first shift of the extra period. The puck caromed off the leg of defenseman Mark Stuart.

"We block so many shots (as a team) it's bound to happen," Auld said.

The Panthers won for just the second time in five games. Boston, coming off an embarrassing 10-2 loss at Washington on Monday, lost for just the third time in 10 games.

Florida, in need of a winning streak quickly to make a run at a playoff spot, moved to six points behind Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference's final postseason slot.

"It's two games and I like the way he's played," Panthers coach Jacques Martin said of Anderson. "He's done a good job, but I think the team in front has done a good job as well."

Auld kept the game scoreless by making a pad save on Brett McLean alone in front of the net with just over 3 1/2 minutes left in regulation, and a nice blocker stop on Stephen Weiss' wrist shot on a 2-on-1 break with 64 seconds to play.

After allowing Washington's six first-period goals the night before, the Bruins tightened up defensively, holding the Panthers to 23 relatively easy chances in the opening two periods.

The teams combined for 50 shots on goal in the opening 40 minutes, but most were from long range and were handled fairly easily by Auld and Anderson.

Boston had the best scoring opportunity in the first two periods when Anderson made a glove save to rob Murray's rebound of P.J. Axelsson's shot.>

Notes: Boston D Bobby Allen was back for the first time since Dec. 22 after missing 30 games, 24 with a back injury and six as a healthy scratch. ... Bruins D Aaron Ward was sidelined with a bruised right foot after being hit with a shot Monday and was wearing a protective walking cast in the press box. .. At the request of the Panthers, the Bruins wore their white jerseys and Florida donned its dark blue and red. ... Boston's Marco Sturm and Marc Savard each had eight-game point streaks halted. Strum was 4-7-11 and Savard 1-11-12. ... The Panthers play their next seven games at home.