Panthers look to move on after Gallant’s dismissal

But on this day, only part of the story.

Arizona’s Jordan Martinook is checked into the boards by Edmonton’s Matthew Benning in the first period.

“Once it was 3-2, he made four or five big saves”.

Wagner, 25, scored two goals with six penalty minutes in 19 games with Anaheim this season.

“The message has been sent and we need to be better and we will be, starting tonight”.

“I’m happy to be back and happy to get a win”, Leighton said.

“Then once we got skating, we looked a little better”.

With the help of Viktor Stalberg, Jeff Skinner, and Derek Ryan, who all tallied single goals, Leighton made 31 saves and earned his first National Hockey League win since December 20, 2010 as the Hurricanes topped the Panthers 3-2. Waived by the Canes in December 2009, he was picked up by the Philadelphia Flyers and soon found himself starting – and eventually losing – to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup final.

He had two more years remaining on his contract.

They got more of an explanation during Tuesday morning’s meeting with Rowe, who called Gallant’s firing “brutal on everybody”. Peters did not have an update on Staal’s status following the game.

Rowe knows Gerald Gallant is well-liked in Florida’s locker room, and he wanted to be as transparent as possible on why the coach was let go just 22 games into the season. Jaromir Jagr, 44, has three goals and eight assists for the Panthers. In were Keith Yandle, Jason Demers, Mike Matheson and Mark Pysyk. But they are only two points out of a playoff berth.

But the Canes players “talked” among themselves during the first break and adjusted. Carolina responded when Stalberg took defenseman Matt Tennyson’s pass from behind the net and slid the puck between Reimer’s pads.

First, Skinner received a breakout pass from Victor Rask and held off a chasing Aaron Ekblad before backhanding the puck past Florida goalie James Reimer for his ninth goal of the season to tie the game. Carolina will be attempting to avoid its second three-game slide of the month after being edged at Ottawa on Saturday.

There still was work to be done. Goalie James Reimer stopped 24 shots for the Panthers. He said he wanted a little bit more size, and we just made a decision to go in a different direction.

At the same time, the Panthers suddenly are under the microscope of the hockey world, as much for the questionable handling and bad optics of the firing of coach Gerard Gallant as for the seemingly revolutionary direction they have adopted.