SUNRISE Vegas Golden Knights Hats Womens , Fla. (AP) Roberto Luongo spoke eloquently on the ice and then played brilliantly in net.On a night when the Florida Panthers honored the victims of last week’s shooting at nearby Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, their veteran goalie delivered a stirring speech to the crowd during a somber pregame tribute.Once the puck was dropped Thursday, he made 33 saves in his third game since returning from a groin injury to lead the Panthers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals.”The first 10 minutes of the game was very difficult. I was not in a zone, that’s a good way to put it. Emotions were still running high from the ceremony,” said Luongo, who lives in Parkland, where the shooting occurred.Vincent Trocheck scored the winning goal with 19.1 seconds left for Florida. With the score tied at 2, he redirected a shot by Jonathan Huberdeau past goaltender Braden Holtby during a power play.Nick Bjugstad scored the tying goal for the Panthers late in the third period, and Maxim Mamin got his first NHL goal.It was the first home game for the Panthers since the tragedy. They had been on a road trip in Canada for the past 11 days.”We had little angels helping us tonight to help us pull out a big win here,” Luongo said.Trocheck celebrated his go-ahead goal by encouraging fellow players to sign his stick. He plans on donating it to the students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas.”It was very emotional,” Trocheck said. ”It was a powerful game. Powerful speech before the game by Lou. Powerful meaning behind the game. Team played great in the third period, showed a lot of character and to be able to put that in the net at the end of the game, it was exciting.”Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist, and Lars Eller also scored for the Capitals. Holtby stopped 30 shots but lost his fifth straight.Before the game, the arena video screen showed the names and faces of each of the 17 students who were killed on Valentine’s Day in nearby Parkland. The darkened ice was then illuminated with 17 circles of light Custom Vegas Golden Knights Jerseys , with a student’s name inside each one.Players from both teams stood for the ceremony, some wiping tears from their eyes.Luongo followed with an emotional address about how he has lived in Parkland for 12 years with his wife and children, and how much he loves the town. He lauded the bravery of those who lost their lives trying to save others and spoke about how inspiring the students have been in coping with the tragedy.”Usually, sporting events start with a lot of fanfare and a lot of noise, and it wasn’t that,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. ”It had some meaning to the people in this region, it had some meaning to the players on the other side, and it had some meaning to us. After he (Luongo) got through the first period, it settled into a hockey game.”Florida players will wear Marjory Stoneman Douglas logos on their helmets and MSD uniform patches for the remainder of the season.”I thought Louie did a heck of a job with his speech and to get in net and to throw a performance out like that after, it was one of the most impressive things I’ve seen in a long time,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said.Bjugstad tied the game at 2 when he took a pass from Aleksander Barkov in front and poked in the puck with 3:42 left.”The second goal they got a little fortunate on,” Holtby said. ”I think he misplaced his pass and it went off his back foot. You just move on from those.”Burakovsky’s power-play goal gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead at 9:56 of the second. Alex Ovechkin fed the puck to Burakovsky in the slot, where he lined it up and fired a shot past Luongo.Mamin gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 4:50 of the first period when he poked in the rebound of a shot by Ian McCoshen. Mamin’s goal was his first point in eight NHL games.The Capitals tied it on Eller’s goal. Burakovsky took a shot from the high slot that glanced off Eller’s stick and in with 1:05 left in the first.NOTES: Capitals defenseman Michal Kempny, acquired from Chicago late Monday night, made his Washington debut. … The Panthers acquired forward Frank Vatrano from Boston for a third-round pick in this year’s draft. … RW Radim Vrbata was a healthy scratch for the eighth time in 11 games.UP NEXTCapitals: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.Panthers: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.— BUFFALO www.officialducks.com , N.Y. (AP) Predators stalwart Pekka Rinne briefly stopped to marvel when informed of the elite NHL goaltending company he joined in becoming a three-time 40-game winner – and after a shutout, no less.Only six players – Martin Brodeur and Terry Sawchuk, among them – had previously done that.”When you say that, it sounds pretty cool,” Rinne said, after stopping 35 shots in a 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night. ”Those guys are legends of this game. They’ve done so much not only for the game of hockey but for the position of being a goalie. That’s great. That’s a credit to my teammates, big time, and also my coaching staff.”Rinne has been nearly unbeatable in winning his 11th straight game and improving to 40-9-4. And the 12-year veteran is carrying the NHL-leading Predators along with him in approaching numerous franchise milestones.Nashville set a team record by extending its point streak to 15 games (14-0-1). And the Predators won their ninth consecutive road game as part of a run in which they’re 12-0-3 in their past 15 to break yet another team record.”He’s unbelievable,” teammate Ryan Johansen said of Rinne. ”In our opinion, he’s been the most valuable player for us.”The rest of the Predators have been no slouches during a stretch in which they haven’t lost in regulation since a 3-1 setback against Detroit on Feb. 17.Johansen and Mike Fisher scored goals 4:34 apart in the second period. Filip Forsberg and Ryan Hartman then sealed it by scoring in the final four minutes.First-year Sabres coach Phil Housley could only tip his hat to Nashville, where he spent the previous four seasons as an assistant. Though the final score didn’t reflect it, Housley was pleased with how the Sabresm last in the Eastern Conference, held their own against the Predators for mostly two periods.”I can’t fault the way our guys played. I thought they brought their best game,” Housley said. ”One thing I’d like to see our guys do better is stop in front of the net and start pounding it, whacking at some loose pucks there.”Then again Anaheim Ducks T-Shirts Authentic , Housley is all too familiar with how well Rinne can play when he gets into a groove.”If we could rattle him early and get him off his game a little bit, that’s the time we’ve got to take advantage,” Housley said. ”But once he settles in, he’s tough to beat.”Buffalo’s Jack Eichel burst up the left side and behind the Predators’ defense to drive across the crease only to have his shot stopped by Rinne’s left pad four minutes in. Rinne also got an assist from teammate Kevin Fiala, who got his stick out to stop Justin Bailey’s attempt to tap in a bouncing puck in the crease.Rinne kicked out his right pad to foil Nicholas Baptiste’s snap shot from the slot 2:30 into the second period. With the game still scoreless, Rinne snapped his glove to snag Jason Pominville’s rising slap shot from the right circle.Buffalo’s minor-league call-up Linus Ullmark stopped 28 shots, starting in place of Robin Lehner, who was sidelined with an undisclosed injury.Ullmark had little chance on Fisher’s goal that opened the scoring 12:29 into the second period.Fisher and teammate Scott Hartnell were both parked in front when Fisher deflected in Mikka Salomaki’s shot from the blue line. The Sabres challenged the goal by arguing Fisher interfered with Ullmark. The goal was allowed to stand despite a replay showing Fisher nudged the back of Ullmark’s skate in the crease and also got a hand on the goalie’s glove.Housley questioned the ruling.”I don’t know what you call goalie interference anymore,” Housley said. ”His skate hits Linus’ skate, which doesn’t allow him to get down into the butterfly and make the save.”There was no disputing Johansen’s goal. Ullmark stopped Viktor Arvidsson’s initial shot from the right circle. The rebound fell at Ullmark’s his feet where Forsberg chipped the puck to Johansen, who snapped it in the open left side.NOTES: Brodeur leads the list of 40-game winners by having done so eight times. Washington’s Braden Holtby is the only other active goalie to win 40 games three times. The other three-time 40-game-winners were Sawchuk, Jacques Plante, Mikka Kiprusoff and Evgeni Nabokov. … Sabres RW Kyle Okposo returned after missing three games with a concussion. … With 10 games left, the Predators inched closer to matching franchise records for most wins (51) and points (110) set in 2006-07.UP NEXTPredators: Host Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.Sabres: Host Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday in matchup of NHL’s two worst teams.—
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