{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Hockey League
Florida 5, Tampa Bay 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 26, 2016
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Referees: Gord Dwyer, Chris Rooney
Linesmen: Matt MacPherson, Jonny Murray
Attendance: 19092

TAMPA, Fla. -- Another game and another milestone for Florida Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr.

The future Hall of Famer scored his 25th goal of the season to lead the Panthers to a 5-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Saturday.

Florida (42-24-9) takes over first place in the Atlantic Division with the win. There are seven games remaining in the regular season.

Jagr has scored 25 or more goals in a season 18 times.

"I have played with a lot of great players," Jagr said. "Right now we have some young guys on this team but they have been leading the team the last couple of years and are playing like top guys."

Roberto Luongo had 33 saves for his 32nd win of the season.

"I think (the Lightning) had a pretty good first 10 minutes," Luongo said. "Then we got one and we kind of settled down a little bit and took over the second half of that period and scored some pretty big goals. It was nice to come back with the lead after that first there."

Jagr's power-play goal at 18:02 in the first period gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead. Florida held the puck in the zone for most of the power play and Aleksander Barkov found Jaromir Jagr open in the slot and he placed a shot past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Tampa Bay (43-27-5) had its three-game win streak snapped.

"I thought we played well and gave good effort," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We outchanced them in the first period but giving up that power-play goal took a little bit of our energy."

Jiri Hudler gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead they would not lose when he scored on a deflected shot at 15:53 in the second period. The shot by Alex Petrovic deflected off Hudler and Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Jussi Jokinen scored for the Panthers in the third period to put the game on ice.

"I think we know what kind of team we have and what we're capable of," Huberdeau said. "It was good to come back in the first period and put together a good effort. But we have to continue to move forward and keep playing well."

Steven Stamkos had a power-play goal for the Lightning in the third to pull the Lightning within 4-2.

Tyler Johnson gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead with his 14th goal of the season at 5:52 in the first period. Johnson took a pass from defenseman Nikita Nesterov in the left circle and put one past Luongo on the far post.

"I thought it was a pretty good game," Johnson said. "Both teams played extremely well. I think it came down to chances and we might have out-chanced them, but we just didn't bury them and they buried theirs. You have to give Luongo some credit, he had some great saves out there."

Florida answered at 13:36 in the first period with Vincent Trocheck's 25th goal of the season. Jokinen recorded the assist, his 41st of the season.

"Those guys are making good plays right now," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said of Trocheck and Jokinen. "That whole line is doing a very good job.

NOTES: The Lightning recalled D Slater Koekkoek from Syracuse of the American Hockey League to replace D Anton Stralman, who will be out at least six weeks because of a fractured fibula. He took 10 shifts for 5:57 of ice time. ... Panthers RW Reilly Smith was questionable but suited up and played 19:30 on 23 shifts. ... Lightning RW Nikita Kucherov took part in pre-game warmups but was scratched Saturday night. RW Joel Vermin was brought up on an emergency recall. "That was a tough one for us to overcome," Cooper said. ... The Panthers have surpassed the 90-point mark in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history.
Top Game Performances
 
Florida   Tampa Bay
Jonathan Huberdeau 2 Points Ondrej Palat 2
Jonathan Huberdeau 1 Goals Tyler Johnson 1
Aleksander Barkov 2 Assists Ondrej Palat 2
Jaromir Jagr 1 Power Play Goals Tyler Johnson 1
Jussi Jokinen 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
Roberto Luongo .943 Save Percentage Andrei Vasilevskiy .846
Roberto Luongo 33 Saves Andrei Vasilevskiy 22
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Florida 27 5 1-4 3-5 12 30
Tampa Bay 35 2 2-5 3-4 10 27
Upcoming Games
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Toronto. The Lightning have a W/L % of .568 after a win and .581 after a loss.
  • Florida will play their next game at home against Toronto. The Panthers have a W/L % of .634 after a win and .471 after a loss.