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Dvorak, Anderson help Panthers deal Hurricanes crushing loss

Apr 5, 2008 - 3:55 AM RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- With their playoff hopes already gone, the Florida Panthers dealt a major blow to those of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Radek Dvorak scored a shorthanded goal and set up another tally while backup Craig Anderson stopped 26 shots as the Panthers held on for a 4-3 triumph over the Hurricanes on Friday.

Nathan Horton had a goal and an assist and defensemen Jay Bouwmeester and Steve Montador also tallied for Florida, which snapped a 15-game winless streak here (0-14-1).

The Panthers won despite being outshot, 46-17, and successfully killed seven of the Hurricanes' nine power-play chances.

"You couldn't have written it any better with the way the refs treated us," Montador said. "It was just like we had to win to prove anything, to break that record, to break that streak. It was perfect."

"We showed a lot of persistence and commitment," Florida coach Jacques Martin added. "You look at the number of penalties and it's difficult enough to win, but I thought we did a lot of good things. Tomas (Vokoun) was great in the first period and Craig was outstanding."

Trevor Letowski, All-Star Eric Staal and Sergei Samsonov scored for Carolina (43-33-6), which is on the verge of missing the playoffs for the second straight season.

The 2006 Stanley Cup champions are even in points with idle Washington (41-31-8) atop the Southeast Division but will be eliminated from postseason contention if the Capitals earn one point in their regular-season finale against the Panthers on Saturday.

"It (stinks)," Staal said. "It's a tough way to lose. It's one of those games. We just didn't capitalize enough and we were one short. As ugly as that sounds, we hope they come out with that same effort in Washington. It (stinks) that we leave it in another team's hands, but we've still got a chance there. Hopefully, they can do something about it."

Carolina picked a terrible time to falter, as its loss helped the Philadelphia Flyers (41-29-11) and Ottawa Senators (43-30-8) clinch playoff spots.

"There's not a good feeling about it," Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said. "We needed to win this game. We knew the deal. We had to make sure we won tonight."

Florida, which earned its first win here since December 6, 2002, threw a wrench into Carolina's postseason plans minus Vokoun. The All-Star goaltender left after one period with back spasms.

Dvorak's shorthanded goal on a breakaway with 12 seconds left in the middle period gave the Panthers a 4-2 lead, and Anderson did the rest.

"It was nice to get the two-goal lead again," Dvorak said.

Staal had sliced the Hurricanes' deficit to 3-2 with his 38th goal of the season with 5:21 left in the second. However, Florida regained its two-goal advantage as Dvorak beat goaltender Cam Ward to the right side with a shot with time winding down in the period.

Carolina pulled within 4-3 as Samsonov scored in the waning seconds of a 5-on-3 power play, blasting a one-timer from the left faceoff dot into the top corner of the net at 7:59 of the third.

However, the Hurricanes could not get the equalizer past Anderson, who was shaken up late in the game.

"It's awesome that we kept the lead because I've been answering questions before about giving up two-goal leads in this building," Florida left wing David Booth said. "It shows character that even though we're out of the playoffs, we can hold on to that lead and beat these guys."

Anderson made a crucial save on Samsonov late in the third as he sprung across the crease to the left side and stopped a wrist shot with his blocker, denying what appeared to be sure goal.

Letowski opened the scoring at 7:25 of the first, but Florida took a 2-1 lead as Bouwmeester and Montador scored less than two minutes apart midway through the session.