The Florida Panthers returned from their time off with a 6-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
Florida had nearly a week off and it appeared rusty in this one. The Panthers changed goalies, and the Kings continued to add on anyway. James Reimer and Roberto Luongo each allowed three goals in the loss. The six goals surrendered by Florida tied a season-high for the team.
The Panthers entered this one riding a three-game winning streak. Florida which is in desperate need of a strong second half, had been playing better as of late. With the prolific scoring by Los Angeles in Thursday's loss, Florida was behind early and had no chance of recovering.
Before the game, the Panthers had four members of the Miami Marlins on the ice. It was Marlins Night at BB&T Center, and the players took part in the ceremonial puck drop. J.T. Realmuto who dropped the puck was joined by Tom Koehler, Derek Dietrich and Dee Gordon. The foursome also took photos and spent time with fans prior to the start of the game.
Jussi Jokinen scored Florida's first goal when he found the back of the net at the 12:04 mark of the first period. The goal which came with help from Nick Bjugstad and Vincent Trocheck was the sixth goal of the season for Jokinen.
As the game neared the end of regulation, Jonathan Marchessault gave Florida a second score. The goal was the 16th of the season for Marchessault and came with an assist from Michael Sgarbossa.
With 22 seconds remaining in the game, Aleksander Barkov gave the Panthers their third and final goal of the game. Barkov's goal was his tenth of the season, and he had help from Jonathan Huberdeau and Jaromir Jagr.
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Luongo ended up with nine saves in his 12 opportunities. Reimer had 11 saves meanwhile in his 14 chances during the loss.
The Panthers will now head out for a five-game road trip. The first game of the trip will come on Saturday in Nashville against the Predators.
