Trocheck helps Panthers rally past Blues 7-4 (Jan 09, 2018)

By AP
Published

ST. LOUIS (AP) Vincent Trocheck and the Florida Panthers erased a slow start with one impressive scoring spree.

Trocheck had two goals and an assist, leading Florida to a 7-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

The Panthers rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to snap a three-game losing streak.

''I think once we kind of woke up a little, it was a hard-fought effort as everybody came together,'' Trocheck said. ''It's always nice to put the puck in the net.''

Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov each had a goal and two assists, and James Reimer stopped 26 shots in his 15th straight start.

''We had contributions from everybody,'' Florida coach Bob Boughner said. ''I liked the way we played. I liked our bite tonight. I think when we were down 2-0, we never thought we were out of it.

''We put our heads down and we worked hard. We grinded. We were physical and you know, we showed up. I'm proud of the team in the effort.''

St. Louis has lost three straight against Florida at Scottrade Center. Vladimir Tarasenko and Paul Stastny each had a goal and an assist for the Blues, and Colton Parayko and Tage Thompson also scored.

St. Louis got off to a fast start on goals by Stastny and Parayko in the first 8:05 of the game.

''We came back and that's what the team needs to do,'' Huberdeau said. ''I think this was a character win and that's what we got to do more often.''

Aaron Ekblad and Barkov responded for Florida in the first, and the Panthers grabbed control with three more goals in the second.

''We just weren't good enough,'' Blues coach Mike Yeo said. ''I think they came out and they competed hard, harder than us. We had a pretty decent start and then kind of we sat back.

''We won't accept that anymore, well, not anymore. We haven't accepted it. This is where we draw a line in the sand. That's enough. It's not who we are. It won't continue.''

After Tarasenko made it 3-2 with a wrist shot from the right circle at 4:17, Radim Vrbata replied for Florida from in front of the net at 12:23. Huberdeau scored from the left circle at 15:55 and Trocheck got his 16th of the season 42 seconds later, making it 5-3 with a snap shot from the slot.

''All I had to do was shoot it,'' Trocheck said. ''Huberdeau made a great play on the faceoff to get it to me.''

The Blues were upset about letting the lead get away from them.

''We were kind of lackadaisical out there,'' defenseman Joel Edmundson said. ''The second period wore us down and they took advantage of us. I guess we thought we had it in the bag and then we took our foot off the pedal. I thought we could have played a little harder.''

Colton Sceviour added a short-handed goal 13:02 into the third. After Thompson got St. Louis within two again, Trocheck tacked on an empty netter at 17:56.

St. Louis goaltender Jake Allen stopped 18 of 23 shots before he was replaced by Carter Hutton, who finished with 11 saves.

NOTES: St. Louis rookie D Vince Dunn remains sidelined with flu-like symptoms. Dunn scored his first NHL goal on Oct. 12 against the Panthers. ... Florida G Robert Luongo remains out with a lower-body injury. Luongo hurt himself making a save on Dec. 4. He has missed 15 games now.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Host Calgary on Friday.

Blues: Head into their bye week. Their next game is Jan. 16 at Toronto.

---

More NHL hockey: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey