Blackhawks come up empty on offense in loss to Panthers

The Hawks go back to the drawing board atop the Central division heading into this contest and they face off against a Panthers side that just had their own 12 game streak snapped recently and now they are trending in the other direction as losers of three in a row.

Panthers All-Star goalie Roberto Luongo, one night after shutting out the Blackhawks, was stellar again with 38 saves. Florida is 27-12-4 with Ekblad in the lineup this season, and went 0-3-1 without him.

J.T. Brown flicked one past Luongo with the game clock winding down but it was too little too late.

Scott Darling stopped 28 shots for Chicago, which lost on consecutive nights in the state of Florida.

After going behind early the Senators held a 2-1 advantage mid-way through the second period, but the Islanders scored four unanswered goals to get a third win in their past four games.

It was the 10th hat trick of his career and first since February 25, 2012.

Jussi Jokinen and Reilly Smith have each tallied a goal and an assist over the last four games and are the only Panthers with multiple points during the team’s spiral.

Tonight’s fourth game in the five-game season series between the two teams could be a four-point swing at the top of the standings.

Jordan Martinook scored 22 seconds into the third period to break a deadlock, Shane Doan had a goal and an assist, and the Arizona Coyotes overcame a freaky goal by Los Angeles to beat the Kings 3-2. Unsurprisingly, the Cats scored four times during that period of complete domination and there was your game.

Ryan Spooner and Torey Krug scored in the shootout to lift the Boston Bruins to a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. David Pastrnak also scored for the Bruins.

Florida struck for three in the first period, its most since getting four in the first 20 minutes against Philadelphia to open the season on October 10. Artem Anisimov scored the Blackhawks’ lone goal in the opening minute.

Darren Helm, Tomas Jurco and Danny DeKeyser scored for the Red Wings, who have not won at home in their last five games. Another came with one second left on a Panthers power play, shortly after Hedman and defenseman Braydon Coburn failed to clear the puck in front of the net.

Semyon Varlamov made 42 saves for the Avalanche.

Predators 4, Oilers 1: EDMONTON, Alberta – Mattias Ekholm scored twice to lift Nashville, which had lost six of seven before winning its past two games.

Brian Campbell’s empty net goal with 4:08 remaining closed things out for the Panthers.

It was all Tampa Bay Lightning in the final 20 minutes, as they tried desperately to crawl back into this game.

The Lightning, which had a chance to tie a franchise record with an eighth straight win, got thumped 5-2 by the Atlantic Division first-place Panthers on Saturday night at the BB&T Center.

Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Ondrej Palat (18) and Florida Panthers center Derek MacKenzie (17) battle for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016 in Sunrise, Fla.