From Talking Points: 

Maybe Olli Jokinen wasn't the problem in Sunrise after all.

The Florida Panthers are busy choking their way out of the playoffs for the umpteenth straight year, and without Jokinen to blame this time. This time they've lost eight of 10, which is about par for March (although they're way behind pace in the "Carolina is a bunch of divers" category).

Each spring, as the Panthers faded their way out of the playoff chase, there were whispers that Jokinen's leadership was at fault. After all, he'd never played in a single playoff game. (Never mind that anyone who played for the Islanders, Kings and Panthers had an uphill climb in that category anyway.)

Read more here. 

Maybe Olli Jokinen wasn't the problem in Sunrise after all.

The Florida Panthers are busy choking their way out of the playoffs for the umpteenth straight year, and without Jokinen to blame this time. This time they've lost eight of 10, which is about par for March (although they're way behind pace in the "Carolina is a bunch of divers" category).

Each spring, as the Panthers faded their way out of the playoff chase, there were whispers that Jokinen's leadership was at fault. After all, he'd never played in a single playoff game. (Never mind that anyone who played for the Islanders, Kings and Panthers had an uphill climb in that category anyway.)

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Ray Whitney scored 1:37 into overtime to lead the surging Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Monday night.

Tuomo Ruutu and Patrick Eaves also scored for Carolina, which improved to 8-1-2 in its last 11 games and moved past Pittsburgh into fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

Jay Bouwmeester and Cory Stillman scored for Florida, which has lost six of seven. The Panthers tied idle Montreal for eighth in the East with 81 points. Florida has played one more game.

The day after the Carolina Hurricanes fell 5-0 to the Florida Panthers, coach Paul Maurice went to the drawing board during practice Friday.

“The first two goals, we left a hole in the middle of the ice because we just didn’t work hard enough to get back there,” said Maurice.

Maurice said the game had to be dealt with, and was today, but that team wasn’t as bad as the score suggested. Likewise, he said they weren’t as good Saturday in their 7-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes as that score would suggest. He looked at the big picture and noted that his team is 6-3-0 in their last nine games.

The Florida Panthers shutout the Hurricanes 5-0 behind the goaltending of Tomas Vokoun.

Staff photo by Chris Seward

Panthers 5, Hurricanes 0 (second period):

The Panthers score twice in 12 seconds.

First, center Anthony Stewart breaks away and backhands the puck past Ward at 9:18 of the second period.

Then, at 9:20, center Gregory Campbell wrists one past Ward in the slot. Right wing Radek Dvorak had centered the puck to Campbell from the right wing.

Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice responds by pulling Ward from the game for backup Michael Leighton.

Then center Michael Frolik scored at 13:33 to make the score 5-0, firing from the slot on the pass from Kamil Kreps, who was in the left corner. ...

SUNRISE, Fla. — With a certain college football game between the Florida Gators and Oklahoma going on just down the road Thursday night, not many locals took much interest in a hockey game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers.

The local Panthers telecast was canceled — a why-bother kind of move. There were thousands of empty seats in the BankAtlantic Center.

What thousands missed was the Panthers using an early third-period surge to take a 4-2 victory, getting goals from Jay Bouwmeester and Nathan Horton in the opening 3 1-2 minutes of the period to put an end to Carolina's season-best four-game winning streak.

Staff photo by Chris Seward

Carolina came out strong but had to grind it out in overtime once more.

Joe Corvo scored his second straight game-winning goal for a 2-1 overtime victory over the Florida Panthers before 14,533 at the RBC Center Thursday.

It was the Canes’ first back-to-back win since November, but the Canes now have gained at least a point in the last six games.

SUNRISE, FLA. — The Florida Panthers hold on for a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes tried to attack in the third period but
couldn't pull the trigger.

After the game, the NHL changed the ruling on Peltonen's second goal. The NHL gave Gregory Campbell credit, saying Peltonen's shot touched Campbell's leg on the way into the net.